THE 

CAVALIER 


BY 

GEORGE   W.    CABLE 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
NEW  YORK::::::::::::::::.-  1909 


COFYRIGHT,   1901,   BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.  She  Wanted  to  Laugh          ....       I 

II.     Lieutenant  Ferry 6 

III.  She 10 

IV.  Three  Days'  Rations 14 

V.  Eighteen,  Nineteen,  Twenty           .         .         .18 

VI.  A  Handsome  Stranger           .         .         .               23 

VII.  A  Plague  on  Names !            .         .         .         .28 

VIII.  Another  Curtained  Wagon    .         .         .         -3° 

IX.     The  Dandy's  Task 34 

X.     The  Soldier's  Hour 38 

XI.     Captain  Jewett 41 

XII.  In  the  General's  Tent          .         .         .         -45 

XIII.  Good-Bye,  Dick 50 

XIV.  Coralie  Rothvelt 54 

XV.     Venus  and  Mars 57 

XVI.  An  Aching  Conscience          .         .         .         .60 

XVII.  Two  Under  One  Hat-Brim           ...     64 

XVIII.     The  Jayhawkers 73 


248975 


Contents 

Chapter 

XIX.  Asieep  m  the  Death-Trap 

XX.  Charlotte  Oliver      . 

XXI.  The  Fight  on  the  Bridge 

XXII.  We  Speed  a  Parting  Guest      . 

XXIII.  Ferry  Talks  of  Charlotte 

XXIV.  A  Million  and  a  Half    . 
XXV.  A  Quiet  Ride 

XXVI.  A  Salute  Across  the  Dead-Line 

XX VII.  Some  Fall,  Some  Plunge 

XXVIII.  Oldest  Game  on  Earth  . 

XXIX.  A  Gnawing  in  the  Dark 

XXX.  Dignity  and  Impudence  . 

XXXI.  The  Red  Star's  Warning 

XXXII.  A  Martyr's  Wrath 

XXXIII.  Torch  and  Sword  . 

XXXIV.  The  Charge  in  the  Lane 
XXXV.  Fallen  Heroes 

XXXVI.  "Says  Quinn,  S'e"        . 

XXXVII.  A  Horse!    A  Horse!     . 

XXXVIII.  "  Bear  a  Message  and  a  Token 

XXXIX.  Charlotte  Sings 

XL.  Harry  Laughs 

XLI.  Unimportant  and  Confidential  . 


Contents 

Chapter  Page 

XLII.  "Can  I  Get  There  by  Candle-Light ?"      .195 

XLIII.  "Yes,  and  Back  Again"             .         .         .198 

XLIV.  Charlotte  in  the  Tents  of  the  Foe       .         .202 

XLV.  Stay  TiJl    Fo-Morrow         .         .         .         .208 

XL VI.  The  Dance  at  Gilmer's       .         .         .         .213 

XLVII.  He's  Dead— Is  She  Alive?                   .         .219 

XLVIII.  In  the  Hollow  of  His  Right  Arm       .         .   222 

XLIX.  A  Cruel  Book  and  a  Fool  or  Two     .          .227 

L.  The  Bottom  of  the  Whirlwind    .          .          .   235 

LI.  Under  the  Room  Where  Charlotte  Lay        .   241 

LII.  Same  Book  and  Light-Head   Harry      .          .    245 

LJII.  "  Captain,  They've  Got  Us "     .          .          .   249 

LEV.  The  Fight  in  the  Doorway         .         .         .254 

LV.      Rescue  and   Retreat 258 

LVL  Hotel  des  Invalides    .          .          .          .          .262 

LVII.     A  Yes  and  a  No 268 

LVIII.  The  Upper  Fork  of  the  Road    .         .         .272 

LIX.  Under  Charlotte's  Window          .          .          .278 

LX.     Tidings 283 

LXI.  While  Destiny  Moved  On          ...   290 

LXII.  A  Tarrying  Bridegroom      .          .          .          .   295 

LXIII.  Something  I  Have  Never  Told  Till  Now   .   301 

LXIV.     By  Twos.     March 307 


THE    CAVALIER 


The    Cavalier 


SHE  WANTED  TO  LAUGH 

0UR  camp  was  in  the  heart  of  Copiah  County, 
Mississippi,  a  mile  or  so  west  of  Gallatin  and  about  six 
miles  east  of  that  once  robber-haunted  road,  the  Nat 
chez  Trace.  Austin's  brigade,  we  were,  a  detached 
body  of  mixed  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  cavalry,  get 
ting  our  breath  again  after  two  weeks'  hard  fighting  of 
Grant.  Grierson's  raid  had  lately  gone  the  entire 
length  of  the  State,  and  we  had  had  a  hard,  vain  chase 
after  him,  also. 

Joe  Johnston's  shattered  army  was  at  Jackson,  about 
forty-five  miles  to  northward;  beleaguered  Vicksburg 
was  in  the  Northwest,  a  trifle  farther  away;  Natchez 
lay  southwest,  still  more  distant;  and  nearly  twice  as 
far  in  the  south  was  our  heartbroken  New  Orleans. 
We  had  paused  to  recuperate  our  animals,  and  there 
was  a  rumor  that  we  were  to  get  new  clothing.  Any 
how  we  had  rags  with  honor,  and  a  right  to  make  as 
much  noise  as  we  chose. 

It  was  being  made.  The  air  was  in  anguish  with  the 
din  of  tree-felling  and  log-chopping,  of  stamping,  neigh 
ing,  braying,  whooping,  guffawing,  and  singing — all 

I 


The  Cavalier 

the  daybreak  charivari  beloved  of  a  camp  of  Confed 
erate  "  critter  companies."  In  the  midst  of  it  a  chum 
and  I  sat  close  together  on  a  log  near  the  mess  fire,  and 
as  the  other  boys  of  the  mess  lifted  their  heads  from 
their  saddle-tree  pillows,  from  two  of  them  at  once  came 
a  slow,  disdainful  acceptance  of  the  final  lot  of  the 
wicked,  made  unsolicited  on  discovering  that  this  chum 
and  I  had  sat  there  talking  together  all  night.  I  had 
the  day  before  been  wheedled  into  letting  myself  be 
detailed  to  be  a  quartermaster's  clerk,  and  this  com 
rade  and  I  were  never  to  snuggle  under  the  one  blanket 
again.  The  thought  forbade  slumber. 

"  If  I  go  to  sleep,"  I  said,—-"  you  know  how  I  dream. 
I  shall  have  one  of  those  dreams  of  mine  to  carry 
around  in  my  memory  for  a  year,  like  a  bullet  in  my 
back."  So  there  the  dear  fellow  had  sat  all  night  to 
give  me  my  hourly  powders  of  reassurance  that  I  could 
be  a  quartermaster's  clerk  without  shame. 

"  Certainly  you  can  afford  to  fill  a  position  which 
the  leader  of  Ferry's  scouts  has  filled  just  before  you." 

But  my  unsoldierly  motive  for  going  to  headquarters 
kept  my  misgivings  alive.  I  was  hungry  for  the  gen 
tilities  of  camp;  to  be  where  Shakespeare  was  part  of 
the  baggage,  where  Pope  was  quoted,  where  Coleridge 
\  and  Byron  and  Poe  were  recited,  Macaulay  criticized, 
\  and  "  Les  Miserables  " — Madame  Le  Vert's  Mobile 
•translation — lent  round ;  and  where  men,  when  they  did 
steal,  stole  portable  volumes,  not  currycombs.  Ned 
Ferry  had  been  Major  Harper's  clerk,  but  had  managed 
in  several  instances  to  display  such  fitness  to  lead  that 
General  Austin  had  lately  named  him  for  promotion, 

2 


She  Wanted  to  Laugh 

and  the  quartermaster's  clerk  was  now  Lieutenant 
Ferry,  raised  from  the  ranks  for  gallantry,  and  followed 
ubiquitously  by  a  chosen  sixty  or  so  drawn  from  the 
whole  brigade.  Could  the  like  occur  again?  And  could 
it  occur  to  a  chap  who  could  not  comprehend  how  it 
had  ever  occurred  at  all? 

By  and  by  we  breakfasted.  After  which,  my  precious 
horse  not  having  finished  his  corn,  I  spread  my  blanket 
and  let  myself  doze,  but  was  soon  awakened  by  the 
shouts  of  my  companions  laughing  at  me  for  laughing 
so  piteously  in  my  sleep. 

"  Would  I  not  tell  my  dream,  as  nice  young  men  in 
the  Bible  always  did?  " 

"  No,  I  would  not!  "  But  I  had  to  yield.  My  dream 
was  that  our  General  had  told  me  a  fable.  It  was  of 
a  young  rat,  which  seeing  a  cockerel,  whose  tail  was 
scarcely  longer  than  his  own,  leap  down  into  a  barrel, 
gather  some  stray  grains  of  corn  and  fly  out  again, 
was  tempted  to  follow  his  example,  but  having  got  in, 
could  only  stay  there.  The  boys  furnished  the  moral; 
it  was  not  complimentary. 

"  Well,  good-bye,  fellows." 

"  Good-bye,  Smith."  I  have  never  liked  my  last 
name,  but  at  that  moment  the  boys  contrived  to  put  a 
kindness  of  tone  into  it  which  made  it  almost  pleasing. 
"  Good-bye,  Smith,  remember  your  failings." 

Remember!  I  had  yet  to  make  their  discovery.  But 
I  was  on  the  eve  of  making  it. 

As  I  passed  up  the  road  through  the  midst  of  our 
nearly  tentless  camp  I  met  a  leather-curtained  spring- 
wagon  to  which  were  attached  a  pair  of  little  striped- 

3 


The  Cavalier 

fegged  mules  driven  by  an  old  negro.  Behind  him, 
among  the  curtains,  sat  a  lady  and  her  black  maid.  The 
mistress  was  of  strikingly  graceful  figure,  in  a  most 
tasteful  gown  and  broad  Leghorn  hat.  Her  small 
hands  were  daintily  gloved.  The  mules  stopped,  and 
through  her  light  veil  I  saw  that  she  was  handsome. 
Her  eyes,  full  of  thought,  were  blue,  and  yet  were  so 
spirited  they  might  as  well  have  been  black,  as  her  hair 
was.  She,  or  fate  for  her,  had  crowded  thirty  years  of 
life  into  twenty-five  of  time. 

For  many  a  day  I  had  not  seen  such  charms  of  fem 
inine  attire,  and  yet  I  was  not  charmed.  Every  item 
of  her  fragrant  drapery  was  from  the  world's  open 
market,  hence  flagrantly  un-Confederate,  unpatriotic, 
reprehensible.  Otherwise  it  might  not  have  seemed  to 
me  that  her  thin  nostrils  had  got  their  passionateness 
lately. 

"  Are  you  not  a  New  Orleans  boy?  "  she  asked  as  I 
lifted  my  kepi  and  drew  rein. 

Boy!  humph!  I  frowned,  made  myself  long,  and 
confessed  I  had  the  honor  to  be  from  that  city.  Where 
upon  she  let  her  long-lashed  eyes  take  on  as  ravishing 
a  covetousness  as  though  I  had  been  a  pretty  baby. 

"I  knew  it! "  she  said  delightedly.  "  But  tell  me, 
honor  bright,"  —  she  sparkled  with  amusement — 
"  you're  not  regularly  enlisted,  are  you  ?  " 

I  clenched  my  teeth.    "  I  am  nineteen,  madam." 

Her  eyes  danced,  her  brows  arched.  "  Haven't  you 
got " — she  hid  her  smile  with  an  embroidered  handker 
chief — "haven't  you  got  your  second  figure  upside 
down?" 


She  Wanted  to  Laugh 

I  glared,  but  with  one  look  of  hurt  sisterliness  she 
melted  me.  Then,  pensive  just  long  enough  to  say, 
"  I  was  nineteen  once/'  she  shot  me  a  sidelong  glance 
so  roguish  that  I  was  dumb  with  indignation  and  tried 
to  find  my  mustache,  forgetting  I  had  shaved  it  off  to 
stimulate  it.  She  smiled  in  sweet  propitiation  and  then 
came  gravely  to  business.  "  Have  you  come  from  be 
yond  the  pickets?  " 

*  No,  madam." 

"  Have  you  met  any  officer  riding  toward  them?  * 

I  had  not.  Her  driver  gathered  the  reins  and  I  drew 
back. 

"  Good-bye,  New  Orleans  soldier-boy"  she  said, 
gaily,  and  as  I  raised  my  cap  she  gave  herself  a  fetch 
ing  air  and  added,  "  I'll  wager  I  know  your  name." 

"  Madam," — my  cap  went  higher,  my  head  lower — 
"  I  never  bet." 

I  could  not  divine  what  there  was  ridiculous  about 
me,  except  a  certain  damage  to  my  dress,  of  which  she 
could  not  possibly  be  aware  as  long  as  I  remained  in 
the  saddle.  Yet  plainly  she  wanted  to  laugh.  I  made 
it  as  plain  that  I  did  not. 

"  Good-day,  sir,"  she  said,  with  forced  severity,  but 
as  I  smiled  apologetically  and  moved  my  rein,  she 
broke  down  under  new  temptation  and,  as  the  wagon 
moved  away,  twittered  after  me  unseen, — "  Good-bye, 
Mr.  Smith." 


The  Cavalier 
II 

LIEUTENANT  FERRY 

I  PASSED  on,  flattered  but  scandalized,  wasting  no 
guesses  on  how  she  knew  me — if  she  really  knew  me 
at  all — but  taking  my  revenge  by  moralizing  on  her, 
to  myself,  as  a  sign  of  the  times,  until  brigade  head 
quarters  were  in  full  view,  a  few  rods  off  the  road; 
four  or  five  good,  white  wall-tents  in  a  green  bit  of  old 
field  backed  by  a  thicket  of  young  pines. 

Midway  of  this  space  I  met  Scott  Gholson,  clerk  to 
the  Adjutant-general.  It  was  Gholson  who  had  first 
spoken  of  me  for  this  detail.  He  was  an  East  Louisian- 
ian,  of  Tangipahoa;  aged  maybe  twenty-six,  but  in 
effect  older,  having  from  birth  eaten  only  ill-cooked 
food,  and  looking  it;  profoundly  unconscious  of  any 
shortcoming  in  his  education,  which  he  had  got  from  a 
small  church-pecked  college  of  the  pelican  sort  that 
feed  it  raw  from  their  own  bosoms.  One  of  his  smallest 
deficiencies  was  that  he  had  never  seen  as  much  art  as 
1  there  is  in  one  handsome  dinner-plate.  Now,  here  he 
|  was,  riding  forth  to  learn  for  himself,  privately,  he  said, 
why  I  did  not  appear.  Yet  he  halted  without  turning, 
and  seemed  to  wish  he  had  not  found  me. 

"  Did  you  " — he  began,  and  stopped ;  "  did  you 
notice  a  " — he  stopped  again. 

"  What,  a  leather-curtained  spring-wagon  ?  " 

"No-o!"  he  said,  as  if  nobody  but  a  gaping  idiot 
would  expect  anybody  not  a  gaping  idiot  to  notice  a 
leather-curtained  spring- wagon.  "  No-o !  did  you 

6 


Lieutenant  Ferry 

notice  the  brown  horse  that  man  was  riding  who  just 
now  passed  you  as  you  turned  off  the  road?  " 

No,  I  barely  remembered  the  rider  had  generously 
moved  aside  to  let  me  go  by.  In  pure  sourness  at  the 
poverty  of  my  dress  and  the  perfection  of  his,  I  had 
avoided  looking  at  him  higher  than  his  hundred-dollar 
boots.  My  feet  were  in  uncolored  cowhide,  except  the 
toes. 

"  He  noticed  you,"  said  Gholson;  "  he  looked  back 
at  you  and  your  bay.  Wouldn't  you  like  to  turn  back 
and  see  his  horse?" 

"  Why,  hardly,  if  I'm  behindhand  now.  Is  it  so  fine 
as  that?  " 

"  Well,  no.  It's  the  horse  he  captured  the  time  he 
got  the  Yankee  who  had  him  prisoner." 

"Who?"  I  cried.  "What!  You  don't  mean  to 
say — was  that  Lieutenant  Ferry?" 

"  Yes,  so  called.  He  wa'n't  a  lieutenant  then,  he  was 
a  clerk,  like  you  or  me." 

"  Oh,  I  wish  I  had  noticed  him !  " 

"  We  can  see  him  yet  if  you " 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  him?  "    I  gathered  my  horse. 

"  Me!— No,  sir.    But  you  spoke  as  if " 

I  shook  my  head  and  we  moved  toward  the  tents. 
This  was  worse  than  the  dream;  the  rat  had  not  seen 
the  cockerel,  but  the  cockerel  had  observed  the  rat — v 
dropping  into  the  barrel:  the  cockerel,  yes,  and  not 
the  cockerel  alone,  for  I  saw  that  Gholson  was  associat 
ing  him  with  her  of  the  curtained  wagon.  By  now  they 
were  side  and  side.  I  asked  if  Ferry  came  often  to 
headquarters, 

7 


The  Cavalier 

"  Yes,  quite  as  often  as  he's  any  business  to." 

"  Ah,  ha!  "  thought  I,  and  presently  said  I  had  heard 
he  was  a  great  favorite. 

"  Well, — yes, — he — he  is, — with  some." 

"  Don't  you  like  him?  " 

"Who,  me?  Oh!— I— I  admire  Ned  Ferry— for  a 
number  of  things.  He's  more  foolhardy  than  brave; 
he's  confessed  as  much  to  me.  Women  call  him  hand 
some.  He  sings ;  beautifully,  I  suppose ;  I  can't  sing  a 
note ;  and  wouldn't  if  I  could.  Still,  if  he  only  wouldn't 
sing  drinking-songs — but,  Smith,  I  think  that  to  sing 
drinking-songs — and  all  the  more  to  sing  them  as  well 
as  some  folks  think  he  does — is  to  advocate  drinking, 
and  to  advocate  drinking  is  next  door  to  excusing 
drunkenness!" 

"Then  Ned  Ferry  doesn't  drink?" 

*"  Indeed  he  does!  I  don't  like  to  say  it,  and  I  don't 
say  he  drinks '  too  much ',  as  they  call  it;  but,  Smith,  he 
drinks  with  men  who  do!  Oh,  /  admire  him;  only  I  do 
wish " 

"Wish  what?" 

"  Oh,  I — I  wish  he  wouldn't  play  cards.  Smith,  I've 
seen  him  play  cards  with  the  shells  bursting  over  us! " 

For  my  part  I  privately  wished  this  saint  wouldn't 
rub  my  uninteresting  surname  into  me  every  time  he 
spoke.  As  we  dismounted  near  the  tents  I  leaned 
against  my  saddle  and  asked  further  concerning  the 
object  of  his  loving  anxiety.  Was  Ned  Ferry  gener 
ous,  pleasant,  frank? 

"Why,  in  outward  manner,  yes;  but,  Smith,  he  was 
raised  to  be  a  Catholic  priest,  I  could  a  heap-sight! 

8 


Lieutenant  Ferry 


easier  trust  him  if  he'd  sometimes  show  distrust,  him 
self.  If  he  ever  does  I've  never  seen  it.  And  yet — 
Oh,  we're  the  best  of  friends,  and  I'm  speaking  now 
only  as  a  friend  and  toe  a  friend.  Oh,  if  it  wa'n't  for 
just  one  thing,  I  could  admit  what  Major  Harper  said 
of  him  not  ten  minutes  ago  to  me ;  that  you  never  finish 
talking  to  Ned  Ferry  without  feeling  a  little  brighter, 
happier  and  cleaner  than  when  you  began;  whereas 
talking  with  some  men  it's  just  the  reverse." 

I  looked  carefully  at  my  companion  and  asked  him 
if  the  Major  had  said  all  of  that.  He  had,  and  Ghol- 
son's  hide  had  turned  it  without  taking  a  scratch. 
"  That's  fine!— as  to  Ferry,"  I  said. 

"  Oh,  yes, — it  would  be — if  it  was  only  so.  Trouble 
is,  you  keep  remembering  he's  such  a  stumbling-block 
to  any  real  spiritual  inquirer.  Yes,  and  to  himself ;  for, 
you  know,  spiritually  there's  so  much  less  hope  for  the 
moralist  than  what  there  is  for  the  up-and-down  rep 
robate!  You  know  that, — Smith." 

My  silence  implied  that  I  knew  it,  though  I  did  not 
feel  any  brighter,  happier  or  cleaner. 

"  Smith,  Ned  Ferry  is  not  only  a  Romanist,  he's  a 
romanticist.  We — you  and  me — are  religionists.  Our 
brightness  and  happiness  air  the  brightness  and  hap 
piness  of  faith;  our  cleanness  is  the  cleanness  of  re 
ligious  scruples.  Worst  of  it  with  Ned  is  he's  satisfied 
with  the  difference,  I'm  afraid!  That's  what  makes  him 
so  pleasant  to  fellows  who  don't  care  a  sou  marquee 
about  religion." 

I  said  one  might  respect  religion  even  if  he  did  not — 

"  Oh,  he's  always  polite  to  it ;  but  he's — he's  read 

9 


The  Cavalier 

Voltaire!  Oh,  yes,  Voltaire,  George  Sand,  all  those 
men.  He  questions  the  Bible,  Smith.  Not  to  me, 
though;  hah,  he  knows  better!  Smith,  I  can  discuss 
religion  and  not  get  mad,  with  any  one  who  don't  ques 
tion  the  Bible;  but  if  he  does  that,  I  just  tell  you,  I 
wouldn't  risk  my  soul  in  such  a  discussion!  Would 
you?" 

I  could  hardly  say,  and  we  moved  pensively  toward 
Major  Harper's  tent.  Evidently  the  main  poison  was 
still  in  Gholson's  stomach,  and  when  I  glanced  at  him 
he  asked,  "  What  d'you  reckon  brought  Ned  Ferry 
here  just  at  this  time?  " 

I  made  no  reply.  He  looked  momentous,  leaned  to 
me  sidewise  with  a  hand  horizontally  across  his  mouth, 
and  whispered  a  name.  It  was  new  to  me.  "  Charlie 
Toliver?  "  I  murmured,  for  we  were  at  the  tent  door. 

"The  war  -  correspondent,"  whispered  Gholson; 
"don't  you  know?"  But  the  flap  of  the  tent  lifted 
and  I  could  not  reply. 

Ill 

SHE 

MAJOR  HARPER  was  the  most  capable  officer  on  the 
brigade  staff.  I  had  never  met  a  man  of  such  force 
and  dignity  who  was  so  modestly  affable.  His  new 
clerk  dined  with  him  that  first  day,  at  noon  in  his  tent, 
alone.  Hot  biscuits!  with  butter!  and  rock  salt.  Fried 
bacon  also — somewhat  vivacious,  but  still  bacon.  When 
the  tent  began  to  fill  with  the  smoke  of  his  meerschaum 
pipe,  and  while  his  black  boy  cleared  the  table  for  us 

10 


She 

to  resume  writing,  we  talked  of  books.  Here  was  joy ! 
I  vaunted  my  love  for  history,  biography,  the  poets,  but 
spoke  lightly  of  fiction. 

The  smoker  twinkled.  "  You're  different  from  Ned 
Ferry,"  he  said. 

"  Has  he  a  taste  for  fiction  ?  "  I  asked,  with  a  de- 
preciative  smirk. 

"  Yes,  a  beautiful  story  is  a  thing  Ned  Ferry  loves 
with  a  positive  passion." 

"  I  suppose  we  might  call  him  a  romanticist,"  said  I, 
"  might  we  not?  " 

The  patient  gentleman  smiled  again  as  he  said,  "  Oh 
— Gholson  can  attend  to  that." 

I  took  up  my  pen,  and  until  twilight  we  spoke  there 
after  only  of  abstracts  and  requisitions.  But  then  he 
led  me  on  to  tell  him  all  about  myself.  I  explained 
why  my  first  name  was  Richard  and  my  second  name 
Thorndyke,  and  dwelt  especially  on  the  enormous  dif 
ferences  between  the  Smiths  from  whom  we  were  and 
those  from  whom  we  were  not  descended. 

And  then  he  told  me  about  himself.  He  was  a  grad 
uate  of  West  Point,  the  only  one  on  the  brigade  staff; 
was  a  widower,  with  a  widowed  brother,  a  maiden  sister, 
two  daughters,  and  a  niece,  all  of  one  New  Orleans 
household.  The  brothers  and  sister  were  Charleston- 
ians,  but  the  two  men  had  married  in  New  Orleans, 
twin  sisters  in  a  noted  Creole  family.  The  brother's 
daughter,  I  was  told,  spoke  French  better  than  Eng 
lish ;  the  Major's  elder  daughter  spoke  English  as  per 
fectly  as  her  father ;  and  the  younger,  left  in  her  aunt's 
care  from  infancy,  knew  no  French  at  all.  I  wondered 

II 


The  Cavalier 

if  they  were  as  handsome  as  their  white-haired  father, 
and  when  I  asked  their  names  I  learned  that  the  niece, 
Cecile,  was  a  year  the  junior  of  Estelle  and  as  much 
the  senior  of  Camille;  but  of  the  days  of  the  years  of 
the  pilgrimage  of  any  of  the  three  "  children  "  he  gave 
me  no  slightest  hint;  they  might  be  seven  years  older, 
or  seven  years  younger,  than  his  new  clerk. 

To  show  him  how  little  I  cared  for  any  girl's  age 
whose  father  preferred  not  to  mention  it,  I  reverted 
to  his  sieter  and  brother.  She  was  in  New  Orleans,  he 
said,  with  her  nieces,  but  might  at  any  moment  be  sent 
into  the  Confederacy,  being  one  of  General  Butler's 
"  registered  enemies/'  The  brother  was — 

"  Out  here  somewhere.  No,  not  in  the  army  ex 
actly;  no,  nor  in  the  navy,  but — I  expect  him  in  camp 
to-night.  If  he  comes  you'll  have  to  work  when  you 
ought  to  be  asleep.  No,  he  is  not  in  the  secret  service, 
only  in  a  secret  service;  running  hospital  supplies 
through  the  enemy's  lines  into  ours." 

I  was  thrilled.  /  was  taken  into  the  staff's  con 
fidence!  Me,  Smith!  That  Major  Harper  would  tell 
me  part  of  a  matter  to  conceal  the  rest  of  it  did  not 
enter  my  dreams,  good  as  I  was  at  dreaming.  The  flat 
tery  went  to  my  brain,  and  presently,  without  the  faint 
est  preamble,  I  asked  if  there  was  any  war-correspond 
ent  at  headquarters  just  now.  There  came  a  hostile 
flash  in  his  eyes,  but  instantly  it  passed,  and  with  all 
his  happy  mildness  he  replied,  "  No,  nor  any  room  for 
one," 

Just  then  entered  an  ordnance-sergeant,  so  smart  in 
his  rags  that  the  Major's  affability  seemed  hardly  a 

12 


She 

condescension.  He  asked  me  to  supper  with  his  mess 
— "  of  staff  attatchays"  he  said,  winking  one  eye  and 
hitching  his  mouth;  at  which  the  Major  laughed  with 
kind  disapprobation,  and  the  jocose  sergeant  explained 
as  we  went  that  that  was  only  one  of  Scott  Gholson's 
mispronunciations  the  boys  were  trying  to  tease  him 
out  of. 

I  found  the  clerks'  mess  a  bunch  of  bright  good 
fellows.  After  supper,  stretched  on  the  harsh  turf  under 
the  June  stars,  with  everyone's  head  (save  mine)  in 
some  one's  lap,  we  smoked,  talked  and  sang.  Only 
Gholson  was  called  away,  by  duty,  and  so  failed  to  hear 
the  laborious  jests  got  off  at  his  expense.  To  me  the 
wits  were  disastrously  kind.  Never  had  I  been  made  a 
tenth  so  much  of;  I  was  even  urged  to  sing  "  All  quiet 
along  the  Potomac  to-night,"  and  was  courteously 
praised  when  I  had  done  so.  But  there  is  where  af 
fliction  overtook  me;  they  debated  its  authorship.  One 
said  a  certain  newspaper  correspondent,  naming  him, 
had  proved  it  to  be  the  work — I  forget  of  whom.  But 
I  shall  never  forget  what  followed.  Two  or  three  chal 
lenged  the  literary  preeminence  of  that  correspondent, 
and  from  as  many  directions  I  was  asked  for  my  opin 
ion.  Ah  me!  Lying  back  against  a  pile  of  saddles  with 
my  head  in  my  hands,  sodden  with  self-assurance,  I  re 
plied,  magnanimously,  "  Oh,  I  don't  set  up  for  a  critic, 
but — well — would  you  call  him  a  better  man  than 
Charlie  Toliver?" 

"  Who — o  ?  "  It  was  not  one  who  asked ;  the  whos 
came  like  shrapnel;  and  when,  not  knowing  what  else 
to  do,  I  smiled  as  one  dying,  there  went  up  a  wail  of 

13 


The  Cavalier 

mirth  that  froze  my  blood  and  then  heated  it  to  a  fever. 
The  company  howled.  They  rolled  over  one  another, 
crying,  "  Charlie  Toliver !  —  Charlie  Toliver !  —  Oh, 
Lord,  where's  Scott  Gholson ! — Charlie  Toliver !  " — 
and  leaped  up  and  huddled  down  and  moaned  and 
rolled  and  rose  and  looked  for  me. 

But,  after  all,  fortune  was  merciful,  andT  was  gone; 
the  Major  had  summoned  me — his  brother  had  come. 
I  went  circuitously  and  alone.  As  I  started,  some  fellow 
writhing  on  the  grass  cried,  "  Charlie  Tol — oh,  this  is 
better  than  a  tcharade ! "  and  a  flash  of  divination  en 
lightened  me.  While  I  went  I  burned  with  shame,  rage 
and  nervous  exhaustion;  the  name  Scott  Gholson  had 
gasped  in  my  ear  was  the  name  of  her  in  the  curtained 
wagon,  and  I  cursed  the  day  in  which  I  had  heard  of 
Charlotte  Oliver. 


IV 


IN  the  vocabulary  of  a  prig,  but  in  the  wrath  of  a 
fishwoman,  I  execrated  Scott  Gholson;  his  jealousies, 
his  disclosures,  his  religion,  his  mispronunciations ;  and 
Ned  Ferry — that  cockerel!  Here  was  I  in  the  barrel, 
and  able  only  to  squeal  in  irate  terror  at  whoever  looked 
down  upon  me.  I  could  have  crawled  under  a  log  and 
died.  At  the  door  of  the  Major's  tent  I  paused  to  learn 
why  there  was  laughter  in  there  also,  and  in  the  be 
wilderment  and  joy  of  one  to  whom  comes  reprieve 
when  the  rope  is  on  his  neck,  I  overheard  Harry  Helm, 

14 


Three  Days'  Rations 

the  General's  nephew  and  aide-de-camp,  who  had  been 
with  us,  telling  what  a  howling  good  joke  Smith  had 
just  got  off  on  Gholson ! 

"  We  shall  have  to  get  Ned  Ferry  back  here,"  the 
Major  was  saying  as  I  entered,  "  to  make  you  boys 
let  Scott  Gholson  alone." 

The  young  man  laughed  and  turned  to  go.  "  Why 
doesn't  Ned  Ferry  make  her  let  Gholson  alone?  He 
can  do  it;  he's  got  her  round  his  finger  as  tight  as  she's 
got  Gholson  round  hers." 

"  Harry,"  replied  the  Major,  from  his  table  full  of 
documents,  "  don't  you  know  that  any  man  who's  got 
a  woman  wrapped  round  his  finger  has  also  got  her 
wrapped  round  his  throat?  " 

The  aide-de-camp  laughed  like  a  rustic  and  vanished. 
"  Smith,"  said  the  Major,  "  your  eyes  are — " 

"  I've  been  awake  for  forty-eight  hours,  Major.  But 
— oh,  I'm  not  sleepy." 

"Well,  go  get  some  sleep. — No,  go  at  once;  you'll 
be  called  when  needed." 

But  I  was  not  needed;  while  I  slept,  who  should 
come  back  and  do  my  work  in  my  stead  but  Ned  Ferry. 
When  I  awoke  it  was  with  a  bound  of  alarm  to  see 
clear  day.  The  command  was  breaking  camp.  I 
rushed  out  of  the  tent  with  canteen,  soap  and  comb,  and 
ran  into  the  arms  of  the  mess-cook.  We  were  alone. 
"  Oh,  yass,  seh,"  he  laughed  as  he  poured  the  water  into 
my  hands,  "  th'ee  days'  rairtion.  Seh  ?  Lawd !  dey 
done  drawed  and  cook'  befo'  de  fus'  streak  o'  light.  But 
you  all  right ;  here  yo'  habbersack,  full  up.  Oh,  I  done 
fed  yo'  hoss.  Here  yo'  jacket  an'  cap;  and  here  yo' 

15 


The  Cavalier 

saddle  an*  bridle — Oh,  you  welcome ;  I  dess  tryin'  to  git 
shet  of  'em  so's  I  kin  strak  de  tent." 

As  I  mounted,  our  wagonmaster  rode  by  me,  busy 
as  a  skipper  in  a  storm.  "  Oh,  here !  "  he  cried,  wheeled, 
and  reaching  something  to  me  added,  "  that's  your  pass. 
Major  Harper  wants  you  as  quick  as  you  can  show  up. 
He  says  never  mind  the  column,  ride  straight  after  him. 
Keep  this  road  to  Hazlehurst  and  then  go  down  the 
main  Brookhaven  road  till  you  overtake  him.  He's  by 
himself — nearly. " 

As  the  rider  wheeled  away  I  blurted  out  with  anxious 
loudness  in  the  general  hubbub,  "  Isn't  his  brother  with 
him?" 

He  flashed  back  a  glare  of  rebuke  and  then  bellowed 
to  heaven  and  earth,  "  Oh,  the  devil  and  Tom  Walker ! 
I  don't  keep  run  of  sutlers  and  citizens ! "  He  took  a 
circuit,  standing  in  his  stirrups  and  calling  orders  to  his 
teamsters,  and  as  he  neared  me  again  he  said  very 
gently,  "  Good  Lord !  my  boy,  don't  you  know  better 
than  to  shoot  your  mouth  off  like  that?  You'll  find 
nobody  with  the  Major  but  Ned  Ferry,  and  I  don't 
say  you'll  find  him." 

I  galloped  to  the  road.  Away  down  through  the 
woods  it  was  full  of  horsemen  falling  into  line.  With 
the  nearest  colonel  was  Lieutenant  Helm,  the  aide-de 
camp.  I  turned  away  from  them  toward  Hazlehurst, 
but  looked  back  distrustfully.  Yes,  sure  enough,  the 
whole  command  was  facing  into  column  the  other 
way!  My  horse  and  I  whirled  and  stood  staring  and 
swelling  with  indignation — we  ordered  south,  and  the 
brigade  heading  westward!  He  fretted,  tramped, 

16 


Three  Days'  Rations 

neighed,  and  began  hurriedly  to  paw  through  the  globe 
to  head  them  off  on  the  other  side.  He  even  threatened 
to  rear;  but  when  I  showed  him  I  was  ashamed  of 
that,  he  bore  me  proudly,  and  I  sat  him  as  proudly  as 
he  bore  me,  for  he  made  me  more  than  half  my  friends. 
And  now  as  the  aide-de-camp  wheeled  about  from  the 
receding  column  and  came  our  way  saluting  cordially, 
we  turned  and  trotted  beside  him  jauntily.  Our  first 
talk  was  of  saddles,  but  very  soon  I  asked  where  the 
General  was. 

"  Out  on  the  Natchez  Trace  waiting  for  the  com 
mand.  I'm  carrying  orders  to  Fisher's  battery,  down 
here  by  the  cross-roads.  Haven't  you  seen  the  Gen 
eral  this  morning?  What!  haven't  seen  him  in  his  new 
uniform?  Whoop!  he's  a  blaze  of  glory!  Look  here, 
Smith,  I  believe  you  know  who  brought  it  to  him !  " 

"  How  on  earth  should  I  know?  " 

"  Oh,  how  innocent  you  always  are !  Look  here !  just 
tell  me  this ;  was  it  the  Major's  brother  brought  it,  or 
was  it  Ned  Ferry?  " 

"  Suppose  it  wasn't  either." 

"  I  knew  it!  I  knew  it  was  her!  Ah,  you  rogue,  you 
know  it  was  her!  " 

"  Well,  that  might  depend  on  who  '  her '  is."  We 
had  reached  the  cross-roads  and  he  was  turning  south. 

"  Look ! "  he  said,  and  gave  the  glance  and  smile 
of  the  lady  in  the  curtained  wagon  so  perfectly  that  I 
cackled  like  a  small  boy.  "  Oh,  you  know  that,  do  you  ? 
I  dare  you  to  say  she  didn't  bring  it! " 

"I  give  you  my  word  I  don't  know!"  called  I  as 
the  distance  grew  between  us. 


The  Cavalier 

"  And  I  give  you  my  word  I  don't  care !  "  he  crowed 
back  as  we  galloped  apart.  His  speech  was  two  or 
three  words  longer,  but  they  are  inappropriate  at  the 
end  of  a  chapter,  and  I  expurgate. 


EIGHTEEN,    NINETEEN,   TWENTY 

ON  entering  Hazlehurst  I  observed  all  about  the  rail 
way-station  a  surprising  amount  of  quartermaster's 
stores.  A  large  part  were  cases  of  boots  and  shoes. 
Laden  with  such  goods,  a  train  of  shabby  box-cars 
stood  facing  south,  its  beggarly  wood-burner  engine 
sniffing  and  weeping,  while  the  cork-legged  conductor 
helped  all  hands  wood  up.  Though  homely,  the  pic 
ture  was  a  stirring  one.  Up  through  the  blue  summer 
morning  came  the  sun,  bringing  to  mind  the  words  of 
the  dying  Mirabeau,  "  If  that  is  not  God,  at  least  it's 
his  first  cousin." 

Even  in  the  character  of  the  goods  there  was  elo 
quence,  and  not  a  drollery  in  the  scene,  not  even  an 
ugliness,  but  was  touched,  was  rife,  with  the  woe  of  a 
war  whose  burning  walls  were  falling  in  on  us.  And 
outward,  too,  upon  others;  a  few  up-ended  cotton- 
bales  leaned  against  each  other  ragged  and  idle,  while 
*  women  and  babes  starved  for  want  of  them  in  far-away 
Lancaster. 

One  of  the  cars  furthest  from  the  engine  had  no 
freight  proper,  only  a  number  of  trunks;  and  these 
were  nearly  hidden  by  the  widely  crinolined  flounces  of 

18 


Eighteen,  Nineteen,  Twenty 

an  elegant  elderly  lady  who  sat  on  the  middle  one. 
And  now  she,  too,  was  hidden,  and  the  wide  doorway  in 
the  side  of  the  car  more  than  filled,  by  the  fashionable 
gowns  of  three  girls.  On  the  ground  below  there  stood 
a  lieutenant  in  a  homemade  gray  uniform,  and  at  his 
back  half  a  dozen  big,  slouching,  barefoot  boys  squirt 
ed  tobacco  juice  and  gazed  at  the  ladies.  The  officer 
scanned  me,  spoke  to  the  ladies,  scanned  me  again,  and 
threw  up  an  arm.  "  Ho — o !  Come  here !  Hullo ! 
Come  here — if  you  please." 

If  he  had  not  said  please  he  should  have  ho'd  and 
hullo'd  in  vain,  but  at  that  word  I  turned.  Before  I 
had  covered  half  the  distance  I  read  New  Orleans! 
my  dear,  dear  old  New  Orleans!  in  every  line  of  those 
ladies'  draperies,  and  at  twenty-five  yards  I  saw  one 
noble  family  likeness  in  all  four  of  their  sweet  faces. 
Oh,  but  those  three  maidens  were  fair!  and  I  could 
name  each  by  her  name  at  a  glance:  Camille,  Cecile, 
Estelle ;  eighteen,  nineteen,  twenty ! 

There  was  a  hush  of  attention  among  them  as  the 
lieutenant  and  I  saluted.  His  left  hand  was  gone  at  the 
wrist  and  the  sleeve  pinned  back  on  itself.  He  asked 
my  name;  I  told  him.  In  the  car  there  was  a  stir  of 
deepening  interest.  I  inquired  if  he  was  the  post- 
quartermaster  here.  He  was. 

"  Ain't  you  Major  Harper's  quartermaster-ser 
geant?"  he  asked. 

"  I  am  his  clerk/'  In  the  car  a  flash  of  joy  and  then 
great  decorum. 

As  he  handed  me  a  writing  he  glowed  kindly.  It 
proved  to  be  from  Major  Harper;  a  requisition  upon 

'9 


The  Cavalier 

this  officer  for  shoes  and  clothing;  not  for  a  brigadeh 
regiment  or  company,  but  for  me  alone,  from  hat  to 
shoes.  I  tendered  it  back  silently,  and  saw  that  he  knew 
its  purport  already  from  the  Major,  and  that  the  ladies 
knew  it  from  him.  The  good  fellow  looked  quite  happy 
a  moment,  but  then  reddened  as  they  joyfully  crowded 
the  car's  doorway  to  see  me  fitted ! 

"  We  can  select  out  sevfl  pair — "  he  began,  but  heard 
a  puerile  titter  and  lost  his  nerve.  "  Now,  you  boys 
that  ain't  got  any  business  here,  jest  clair  out! — Go!  I 
tell  you,  aw  I'll — "  The  boys  loitered  off  toward  the 
engine.  "  We  can  select  out  sev'l  si-izes,"  he  drawled, 
uncovering  a  box,  "  and  fit  you  ove'  in  my  office.  You 
ain't  so  pow'ful  long  nor  so  pow'ful  slim,  but  these- 
yeh  gov'ment  contrac's  they  seldom  ev'  allow  fo'  any 
body  so  slim  in  the  waist  bein'  so  long  in  the,  eh, — so, 
eh, — so  long  f'om  thah  down.  But  yet  still,  if  you'll 
jest  light  off  yo'  hoss  and  come  and  look  into  this-yeh 
box—" 

Hmm!  yes!  I  wouldn't  have  got  off  my  horse  and 
leaned  over  that  box  to  save  the  Confederacy.  "  I 
thank  you,  Lieutenant,  but  I  can't  stop.  If  you'll  hand 
me  up  a  jacket  and  pair  of  shoes  I'll  sign  for  them  and 
go.  I  don't  want  a  hat,  but  I  reckon  I'd  as  well  in 
clude  shoes,  although  really, — "  I  glanced  down 
brazenly  at  the  stirrup-leathers  that  so  snugly  hid  my 
naked  toes. 

As  the  quartermaster  lifted  out  a  pair  of  brogans  as 
broad  as  they  were  long,  there  came  a  cry  of  protesta 
tion  from  the  freight-car  group,  that  brought  the  entire 
herd  of  rustics  from  the  woodpile  and  the  locomotive. 

20 


Eighteen,  Nineteen,  Twenty 

Miss  Harper  rose  behind  her  nieces,  tall,  slender,  dark, 
with  keen  black  eyes  as  kind  as  they  were  penetrat 
ing.  "  My  boy !  "  she  cried,  "  you  cannot  wear  those 
things!" 

Camille,  the  youngest,  whispered  to  her,  whereupon 
she  beckoned.  "  Oh  ! — oh,  do  come  here ! — Mr.  Smith, 
I  am  the  sister  of  Major  Harper.  You're  from  New 
Orleans  ?  Does  your  mother  live  in  Apollo  Street  ?  " 

"Yes,  madam,  between  Melpomene  and  Terpsi 
chore." 

"Richard  Thorndyke  Smith!  My  dear  boy,"  she 
cried,  while  the  nieces  gasped  at  each  other  with  gest 
ures  and  looks  all  the  way  between  Terpsichore  and 
Melpomene,  and  then  the  four  cried  in  chorus,  "  We 
know  your  mother !  " 

"  We've  got  a  letter  for  you  from  her! "  exclaimed 
Camille. 

"  And  a  suit  of  ume-fawm! "  called  Cecile,  with  her 
Creole  accent. 

"  We  smuggled  it  through !  "  chanted  the  trio,  ready 
to  weep  for  virtuous  joy.  And  then  they  clasped  arms 
like  the  graces,  about  their  aunt,  and  let  her  speak. 

"  We  all  helped  your  mother  make  your  uniform," 
she  said.  "  In  the  short  time  we've  known  her  weVe 
learned  to  love  her  dearly."  With  military  brevity  she 
told  how  they  had  unexpectedly  got  a  pass  and  were 
just  out  of  New  Orleans — "poor  New  Orleans! "  put 
in  Estelle,  the  eldest,  the  pensive  one;  that  they  had 
come  up  from  Pontchatoula  yesterday  and  last  night, 
and  had  thrown  themselves  on  beds  in  the  "hotel" 
yonder  without  venturing  to  disrobe,  and  so  had  let  her 

21 


The  Cavalier 

brother  pass  within  a  few  steps  of  them  while  they  slept! 
"  Telegraph?  My  dear  boy,  we  came  but  ten  miles  an 
hour,  but  we  outran  our  despatch ! "  Now  they  had 
telegraphed  again,  to  Brookhaven,  and  thanks  to  the 
post-quartermaster,  were  going  down  there  at  once  on 
this  train.  While  this  was  being  told  something  else 
was  going  on.  The  youngest  niece,  Camille,  had  put 
herself  entirely  out  of  sight.  Now  she  reappeared  with 
very  rosy  cheeks,  saying,  "  Here's  the  letter." 

My  thanks  were  few  and  awkward,  for  there  still 
hung  to  the  missive  a  basting  thread,  and  it  was  as 
warm  as  a  nestling  bird.  I  bent  low — everybody  was 
emotional  in  those  days — kissed  the  fragrant  thing, 
thrust  it  into  my  bosom,  and  blushed  worse  than  Ca 
mille. 

"Poor  boy!"  said  the  aunt.  "It's  the  first  lino 
youVe  had  for  months.  Your  sweet  mother  wrote,  but 
her  letters  were  all  intercepted,  and  the  last  time  she 
was  warned  that  next  time  she'd  be  dealt  with  accord 
ing  to  military  usage!  I'm  glad  we  could  give  you 
this  one  at  once.  We  can't  give  you  the  uniform,  for 
we — why,  girls,  what — why,  what  nonsense !  " 

Maybe  I  did  not  say  vindictive  things  inside  me  just 
then!  The  three  nieces  had  turned  open-mouthed  upon 
one  another  and  sunk  down  upon  their  luggage  with 
averted  faces. 

"  I  say  we  can't  give  it  to  you  now,"  Miss  Harper 
persisted,  with  a  motherly  smile ;  "  we're  wearing  it 
ourselves.  We've  had  no  time  to  take  it  off.  I  couldn't 
get  the  boots  off  me  last  night.  And  even  if  you  had 
the  boots,  the  other  things — " 

"  Aunt  Martha!  "  moaned  some  one— 

22 


A  Handsome  Stranger 

"Well,  in  short,"  said  the  aunt,  twinkling  like  her 
brother,  "we  can't  deliver  the  goods,  and — "  She 
started  as  though  some  one  had  slapped  her  between 
the  shoulder-blades.  It  was  the  engine  caused  it, 
whistling  in  the  old,  lawless  way,  putting  a  whoop,  a 
howl,  a  scream  and  a  wail  into  one.  The  young  ladies 
quailed,  the  train  jerked  like  several  collisions,  the  bell 
began  tardily  to  clang,  and  my  steed  whirled,  cleared 
a  packing  case,  whirled  again,  and  stood  facing  the 
train,  his  eyes  blazing,  his  nostrils  flapping,  not  half 
so  much  frightened  as  insulted.  The  post-quarter 
master  waved  ta  the  ladies  and  they  to  us.  For  a  last 
touch  I  lifted  my  cap  high  and  backed  my  horse  on 
drooping  haunches — you've  seen  Buffalo  Bill  do  it — 
and  then,  with  a  leap  like  a  cricket's,  and  to  a  clapping 
of  maidens'  hands  that  made  me  whooping  drunk,  we 
stretched  away,  my  horse  and  I,  on  a  long  smooth 
gallop,  for  Brookhaven. 


VI 

A   HANDSOME  STRANGER 

CERTAINLY  no  cricket  ever  dropped  blither  music 
from  his  legs  than  did  my  beautiful  horse  that  glorious 
morning  as  we  clattered  in  perfect  rhythm  on  the  hard 
clean  road  of  the  wide  pine  forest.  Ah!  the  forest 
is  not  there  now ;  the  lumbermen — 

For  an  hour  or  so  the  world  seemed  to  have  taken 
me  for  its  center  as  smoothly  as  a  sleeping  top.  Only 
after  a  good  seven  miles  did  my  meditations  begin  to 
reveal  any  bitter  in  the  sweet ;  but  it  was  in  recalling 

23 


The  Cavalier 

for  the  twentieth  time  the  last  sight  of  Camille,  that 
I  heard  myself  say,  I  know  not  whether  softly  or 
loudly, 

"  Oh,  hang  the  uniform !  " 

The  morning  was  almost  sultry.  As  I  halted  in  the 
clear  ripples  of  a  gravelly  "  branch  "  to  let  my  horse 
drink,  I  heard  no  great  way  off  the  Harpers*  train 
shrieking  at  cattle  on  the  track,  and  looking  up  I  no 
ticed  just  behind  me  an  unfrequented  by-road  carefully 
masked  with  brush,  according  to  a  new  habit  of  the 
"  citizens  ".  The  next  moment  my  horse  threw  up  his 
head  to  listen.  Then  I  heard  hoofs  and  voices,  and 
presently  there  came  trotting  through  the  oak  bushes 
and  around  the  mask  of  brush  two  horsemen  unusually 
well  mounted,  clad  and  armed.  Their  very  dark  gray 
uniforms  were  so  trim  and  so  nearly  blue  that  my  heart 
came  into  my  throat;  but  then  I  noticed  they  carried 
neither  carbines  nor  sabres,  but  repeaters  only,  a  brace 
to  each.  They  splashed  lightly  to  either  side  of  me, 
and  the  three  horses  drank  together. 

"  Good-morning,"  we  said.  One  of  the  men  was  a 
sergeant.  He  scanned  my  animal,  and  then  me,  with  a 
dawning  smile.  "That's  a  fightin'-cock  of  a  horse 
you've  got,  sonny." 

"  Yes,  bub,"  I  replied.  The  two  men  laughed  so  ex 
plosively  that  my  horse  lifted  his  head  austerely. 

"Jim,"  said  the  younger,  "I  don't  believe  all  the 
conscripts  we've  caught  these  three  days  are  worth  the 
powder  they've  cost !  " 

"  No,"  replied  Sergeant  Jim,  "  I  doubt  if  the  most  of 


A  Handsome  Stranger 

I  turned  to  him  and  drew  down  my  under  eyelid. 
"  Will  you  kindly  tell  me,  sir,  if  you  see  any  unnatural 
discoloration  in  there?  " 

He  smiled.  "  No,  but  I  can  put  some  there  if  you 
want  it." 

"  Thank  you,  I  couldn't  let  you  take  so  much  trouble 
—or  risk." 

The  three  of  us  pattered  out  of  the  stream  abreast. 
"  No  trouble,"  replied  the  sergeant,  "  it  wouldn't  take 
half  a  minute." 

"  No,"  I  rejoined,  "  the  first  step  would  be  the  last." 

The  men  laughed  again.  "  You  must  a-been  born 
with  all  your  teeth,"  said  the  private,  as  we  quickened 
to  a  trot.  "  What  makes  you  think  we  ain't  after  con 
scripts?  " 

"  Oh,  if  you  were  you  wouldn't  say  so.  You'd  let  on 
to  be  looking  for  good  crossings  on  Pearl  River,  so  that 
if  Johnston  should  get  chewed  up  we  needn't  be  caught 
here  in  a  hole,  Ferry's  scouts  and  all." 

The  pair  looked  at  each  other  behind  my  neck  for 
full  ten  seconds.  Then  the  younger  man  leaned  to  his 
horse's  mane  in  a  silent  laugh  while  Sergeant  Jim 
looked  me  over  again  and  remarked  that  he  would  be 
horn-swoggled ! 

"  I'm  willing,"  I  responded,  and  we  all  laughed. 
The  younger  horseman  asked  my  name.  "Smith," 
I  said,  with  dignity,  and  they  laughed  again,  their  laugh 
growing  louder  when  I  would  not  smile. 

"  Well,  say ;  maybe  you'll  tell  us  who  this  is  we're 
about  to  meet  up  with." 

Through  the  shifting  colonnades  of  pine,  a  hundred 

25 


The  Cavalier 

yards  in  front  of  us,  came  two  horsemen  in  the  same 
blue-gray  of  the  pair  beside  me.  "  Whoever  he  is,"  I 
said,  "  that  gray  he's  riding  is  his  second  best,  or  it's 
borrowed,"  for  his  mount,  though  good,  was  no  match 
for  him. 

"  Borrowed!  "  echoed  the  sergeant.  "  If  he  doesn't 
own  that  mare  no  man  does." 

"Nor  no  woman?"  I  asked,  and  again  across  the 
back  of  my  neck  my  two  companions  gazed  at  each 
other. 

"By  ganny!"  exclaimed  one,  and —  "You're  a 
coon,"  murmured  the  other,  as  the  new-comers  drew 
near.  The  younger  of  these  also  was  a  private.  Be 
hind  his  elbow  was  swung  a  Maynard  rifle.  Both  car 
ried  revolvers.  The  elder  wore  a  long  straight  sword 
whose  weather-dimmed  orange  sash  showed  at  the  front 
of  a  loose  cut-away  jacket.  Under  this  garment  was 
a  shirt  of  strong  black  silk,  made  from  some  lady's 
gown  and  daintily  corded  with  yellow.  On  the  jacket's 
upturned  collar  were  the  two  gilt  bars  of  a  first  lieu 
tenant,  but  the  face  above  them  shone  with  a  combined 
intelligence  and  purity  that  drew  my  whole  attention. 

A  familiar  friendship  lighted  every  countenance  but 
mine  as  this  second  pair  turned  and  rode  with  us,  the 
lieutenant  in  front  on  Sergeant  Jim  Longley's  right,  and 
the  two  privates  with  me  between  them  behind.  For 
some  minutes  the  sergeant,  in  under-tone,  made  report 
to  his  young  superior.  Then  in  a  small  clearing  he 
turned  abruptly  into  a  neighborhood  road,  and  at  his 
word  my  two  companions  pricked  after  him  westward. 
I  closed  up  beside  the  lieutenant ;  he  praised  the  weath- 

26 


A  Handsome  Stranger 

er,  and  soon  our  talk  was  fluent  though  broken,  as  we 
moved  sometimes  at  a  trot  and  often  faster.  In  stolen 
moments  I  scanned  him  with  the  jealousy  of  my  youth. 
Five  feet,  ten ;  humph !  I  was  five,  nine  and  a  thirty- 
second.  In  weight  he  looked  to  be  just  what  I  always 
had  in  mind  in  those  prayers  without  words  with  which 
I  mounted  every  pair  of  commissary  scales  I  came  to. 
The  play  of  his  form  as  our  smooth-gaited  horses  sped 
through  the  flecking  shades  was  worth  watching  for  its 
stanch  and  supple  grace.  Alike  below  the  saddle  and 
above  it  he  was  as  light  as  a  leaf  and  as  firm  as  a  lance. 
I  had  long  yearned  to  own  a  pair  of  shoulders  not  too 
square  for  beauty  nor  too  sloping  for  strength,  and  lo, 
here  they  were,  not  mine,  but  his.  No  matter;  the 
slender  mustache  he  sported  he  was  welcome  to,  I  had 
shaved  off  nearly  as  good  a  one;  wished  now  I  hadn't. 
As  once  or  twice  he  lifted  his  kepi  to  the  warm  breeze 
I  took  new  despair  from  the  soft  locks  of  darkest  chest 
nut  that  lay  on  his  head  in  manly  order,  ready  enough 
to  curl  but  waiving  the  privilege. 

"  Cock-a-doodle-doo,"  thought  I ;  "  if  those  are  not 
the  same  hundred-dollar  boots  I  saw  yesterday  morn 
ing,  at  least  they  are  their  first  cousins! " 


The  Cavalier 


A  PLAGUE  ON  NAMES! 

ONCE  more  I  measured  my  man.  Celerity,  valor, 
endurance,  they  were  his  iridescent  neck  and  tail 
feathers.  On  a  certain  piece  of  road  where  we  went 
more  slowly  I  mentioned  abruptly  my  clerkship  under 
Major  Harper  and  watched  for  the  effect,  but  there  was 
none.  Did  he  know  the  Major?  Oh,  yes,  and  we  fell 
to  piling  item  upon  item  in  praise  of  the  quartermaster's 
virtues  and  good  looks.  Presently,  with  shrewdest  in 
tent,  I  said  the  Major  was  fine  enough  to  be  the  hero 
of  a  novel!  Did  not  my  companion  think  so? 

Yes,  he  thought  so;  but  I  believed  the  glow  in  his 
tone  was  for  novels.  I  extolled  the  romance  of  actual 
life!  I  denounced  that  dullness  which  fails  to  see  the 
poetry  of  daily  experience,  and  goes  wandering  after 
the  mirages  of  fiction!  And  I  was  ready  to  fight  him 
if  he  liked.  But  he  agreed  with  me  most  cordially. 

"  And  yet,"  he  began  to  add,-— 

"  Yet  what?  "  I  snapped  out,  with  horse  eyes. 

"  Doesn't  a  good  story  revive  the  poetry  of  our  actual 
lives  ?  "  He  wiped  the  rim  of  his  cap  with  a  handker 
chief  of  yellow  silk  enriched  at  one  corner  with  needle 
work. 

"  Um-hm!  "  I  thought;  "  Charlotte  Oliver,  eh?  "  I 
responded  tartly  that  I  had  that  very  morning  met  four 
ladies  the  poetry  of  whose  actual,  visible  loveliness  had 
abundantly  illustrated  to  me  the  needlessness  and  im 
pertinence  of  fiction!  By  the  way,  did  he  not  think 

38 


A  Plague  on  Names ! 

feminine  beauty  was  always  in  its  ripest  perfection  at 
eighteen? 

Well,  he  thought  a  girl  might  be  prettiest  at  eighteen 
and  handsomest  much  later.  And  again  I  said  to  my 
self,  "  Charlotte  Oliver!  "  But  when  I  looked  search- 
ingly  into  his  eyes  their  manly  sweetness  so  abashed  me 
that  I  dropped  my  glance  and  felt  him  looking  at  me. 
I  remembered  my  fable  and  flinched.  "  Isn't  your 
name — "  I  cried,  and  choked,  and  when  I  would  have 
said  Ferry,  another  word  slipped  out  instead.  He  did 
not  hear  it  plainly : 

"  Cockerel,  did  you  say?" 

A  sweet  color  was  I.  "Yes,  that's  what  I  said; 
Cockerel.  Isn't  your  last  name  Cockerel?  " 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  my  last  name  is  Durand."  He  gave 
it  the  French  pronunciation. 

"  Mine  is  Smith,"  I  said,  and  we  galloped. 

A  plague  on  names!  But  I  was  not  done  with  them 
yet.  We  met  other  scouts  coming  out  of  the  east,  who 
also  gave  reports  and  went  on  westward,  sometimes 
through  the  trackless  woods.  At  a  broad  cross-road 
which  spanned  the  whole  State  from  the  Alabama  line 
to  the  Mississippi  River  stood  another  sergeant,  with 
three  men,  waiting.  They  were  the  last. 

Again  we  galloped  alone;  and  as  our  horses'  hoofs 
beat  drummers'  music  out  of  the  round  earth  our  dia 
logue  drifted  into  confessions  of  our  own  most  private 
theories  of  conduct,  character  and  creation.  Now  that 
this  man's  name  was  not — Cockerel,  my  heart  opened 
to  him  and  we  began  to  admit  to  each  other  the  per 
plexities  of  this  great,  strange  thing  called  Life.  Espc- 

29 


The  Cavalier 

cially  we  confessed  how  every  waking  hour  found  us 
jostled  and  torn  between  two  opposite,  unappeasable 
tendencies  of  soul;  one  an  upward  yearning  after 
everything  high  and  pure,  the  other  a  down-dragging 
hunger  for  every  base  indulgence.  I  was  warmed  and 
fed.  Yet  I  was  pained  to  find  him  so  steeped  in  pre 
sumptuous  error,  so  wayward  of  belief  and  unbelief. 
The  sweet  ease  with  which  he  overturned  and  emptied 
out  some  of  my  arguments  gave  me  worse  failure  of  the 
diaphragm  than  a  high  swing  ever  did.  Nevertheless 
I  responded;  and  he  rejoined;  and  I  rejoined  again, 
and  presently  he  gave  me  the  notion  that  he  was  suf 
fering  some  cruel  moral  strain. 


VIII 

ANOTHER  CURTAINED  WAGON 

UPON  whatever  fundamental  scheme  we  persever- 
ingly  concentrate  our  powers,  upon  whatever  main  road 
of  occupation  we  take  life's  journey, — art,  politics,  com 
merce,  science, — if  only  we  will  take  its  upper  fork  as 
often  as  the  road  divides,  then  will  that  road  itself, 
and  not  necessarily  any  cross-road,  lead  us  to  the  no 
blest,  truest  plane  of  convictions,  affections,  aspirations. 
Such  a  frame  of  mind  may  be  quite  without  religiosity, 
as  unconscious  as  health;  but  the  proof  of  its  religious 
reality  will  be  that,  as  if  it  were  a  lighthouse  light  and 
we  its  keeper,  everybody  else,  or  at  any  rate  everybody 
out  on  the  deep,  will  see  it  plainer  than  we.  Such  is  the 
gist  of  what  this  young  man  was  saying  to  me,  when- 

30 


Another  Curtained   Wagon 

our  speculations  were  brought  to  an  end  by  our  over 
taking  a  man  well  mounted,  and  a  woman  whose  rough- 
gaited  mare  was  followed  by  a  colt. 

The  pair  took  our  pace,  the  man  plying  me  with 
questions,  and  his  wife,  in  front,  telling  Lieutenant  Du- 
rand  all  the  rumors  of  the  day.  Her  scant  hair  was  of 
a  scorched  red  tone,  she  was  freckled  down  into  her 
collar,  her  elbows  waggled  to  the  mare's  jog,  and  her 
voice  was  as  flat  as  a  duck's.  Her  nag  had  trouble  to 
keep  up,  and  her  tiny  faded  bonnet  had  even  more 
to  keep  on.  Yet  the  day  was  near  when  the  touch  of 
those  freckled  hands  was  to  seem  to  me  kinder  than 
the  breath  of  flowers,  as  they  bathed  my  foul-smelling 
wounds,  and  she  would  say,  in  the  words  of  the  old 
song,  "  Let  me  kiss  him  for  his  mother,"  and  I  should 
be  helpless  to  prevent  her.  By  and  by  the  man  raised 
his  voice : — 

"  Why,  yo'  name  is  Smith,  to  be  sho' !  I  thought  you 
was  jest  a-tryin'  to  chaw  me.  Why,  Major  Harper  al- 
ludened  to  you  not  mo'n  a  half-ow  ago.  Why,  Miz 
Wall !  oh,  Miz  Wall !  " 

But  the  wife  was  absorbed.  "  Yayse,  seh,"  she  was 
saying  to  the  lieutenant,  "  and  he  told  us  about  they 
comin'  in  on  the  freight-kyahs  f'om  Hazlehurst  black 
with  dust  and  sut  and  a-smuttyin'  him  all  oveh  with  they 
kisses  and  goin's-on.  He  tol'  me  he  ain't  neveh  so 
enjoyed  havin'  his  face  dirty  sence  he  was  a  boy.  He 
would  a-been  plumb  happy,  ef  on'y  he  could  a-got  his 
haynds  on  that  clerk  o'  his'n.  And  when  he  tol'  us 
what  a  gay  two-hoss  turn-out  he'd  sekyo'ed  for  the 
ladies  to  travel  in,  s'  I;  Majo',  that's  all  ri-ght!  You 

31 


The  Cavalier 

jest  go  on  whicheveh  way  you  got  to  go!  Husband 
and  me,  we'll  ride  into  Brookhaven  and  bring  'em  out 
to  ow  place  and  jest  take  ca'e  of  'em  untel  yo'  clerk 
is  found." 

"Miz  Wall!"  cried  the  husband— "  She's  busy 
talkin'. — Miz  Wall! — she  don't  hyuh  me.  I  hate  to  in 
terrupt  rich.— Oh,  Miz  Wall!  hyuh's  Majo'  Harper's 
clerk,  right  now !  " 

"Law,  you  hain't!"  cried  Mrs.  Wall,  smiling  back 
as  she  jounced.  "  If  you  air,  the  Majo's  sisteh's  got 
written  awdehs  fo'  you." 

I  shot  forward,  but  had  hardly  more  than  sent  back 
my  good-bye  when  around  a  bend  of  the  road,  in  a 
wagon  larger  than  Charlotte  Oliver's,  with  the  curtains 
rolled  up,  came  the  four  Miss  Harpers,  unsooted  and 
radiant.  The  aunt  drove.  We  turned,  all  four,  and 
rode  with  them,  and  while  the  seven  chatted  gaily  I  read 
to  myself  the  Major's  note.  It  bade  me  take  these  four 
ladies  into  my  most  jealous  care  and  conduct  them  to 
a  point  about  thirty  miles  west  of  where  we  then  were. 
A  dandy's  task  in  a  soldier's  hour !  I  ground  my  teeth, 
but  as  I  lifted  my  glance  I  found  Camille's  eyes  resting 
on  me  and  read  anxiety  in  them  before  she  could  put 
on  a  smile  of  unemotional  friendliness  that  faded  rapidly 
into  abstraction.  She  was  as  pretty  as  the  bough  of 
wild  azaleas  in  her  hand,  yet  moving  forward  I  told  her 
aunt  the  order's  purport  and  that  it  implied  the  great 
est  despatch  compatible  with  mortal  endurance.  The 
whole  four  seemed  only  delighted. 

But  Mrs.  Wall  protested.  No,  no,  her  hospitality 
first,  and  a  basket  of  refreshments  to  be  stowed  in  the 

32 


Another  Curtained  Wagon 

vehicle,  besides.  "  Why,  that'll  sa-ave  ti-ime.  You- 
all  goin'  to  be  supprised  to  find  how  hungry  y'all  ah, 
befo'  you  come  to  yo'  journey's  en',  to-night,  and  them 
col'  victuals  goin'  taste  pow'ful  fi-ine !  " 

Our  acceptance  was  unanimous.  I  even  decided  not 
to  inform  Lieutenant  Durand  until  after  the  repast,  that 
ladies  under  my  escort  did  not  pick  acquaintanceship 
with  soldiers  on  the  public  highway.  But  before  the 
brief  meal  was  over  I  was  wishing  him  hanged.  Hang 
the  heaven-high  theories  that  had  so  lately  put  me  in 
love  with  him !  Hang  his  melodious  voice,  his  modest 
composure,  his  gold-barred  collar,  his  easy  command 
of  topics !  Hang  the  women !  they  feasted  on  his  every 
word  and  look!  Ah,  ladies!  if  I  were  mean  enough 
to  tell  it — that  man  doesn't  believe  in  hell!  He  has  a 
down-dragging  hunger  for  every  base  indulgence;  he 
has  told  me  so ! 

How  fast  acquaintance  grew!  When  he  addressed 
himself  to  Cecile,  the  cousin  of  the  other  two,  her  black 
eyes  leapt  with  delight;  for  as  calmly  as  if  that  were 
the  only  way,  he  spoke  to  her  in  French — asked  her  a 
question.  She  gave  answer  in  happiest  affirmation,  and 
explained  to  her  aunt  that  her  Durand  schoolmates  of 
a  year  or  two  back  were  cousins  to  the  Lieutenant. 
When  the  throng  came  out  to  the  carry-all  I  was  there 
and  mounted.  Squire  Wall  took  me  a  few  rods  to  point 
out  where  a  fork  of  his  private  road  led  into  the  high 
way.  Then  the  carry-all  came  merrily  after,  and 
with  a  regret  that  surprised  me  I  answered  our  Lieu 
tenant's  farewell  wave,  forgave  him  all  his  charms,  and 
saw  him  face  westward  and  disappear  by  a  bridle-path. 

33 


The  Cavalier 

IX 

THE  DANDY'S  TASK 

WESTWARD  likewise  we  soon  were  bickering.  The 
morning  sun  shone  high;  the  thin,  hot  dust  blew  out 
over  the  blackened  ground  of  some  forest  "  burn  "  or 
through  the  worm  fence  of  some  field  where  a  gang  of 
slave  men  and  women  might  be  ploughing  or  hoeing 
between  the  green  rows  of  young  cotton  or  corn.  The 
level  stretches  were  many,  the  slopes  gradual,  and  to 
those  sweet  city-bred  ladies  everything  was  new  and 
delightful ;  a  log  cabin  ! — with  clay  chimney  on  the  out 
side! — a  well  and  its  well-sweep! — another  cabin  with 
its  gourd-vines!  They  knew  that  blessed  alchemy 
which  turns  all  things  into  the  poetry  of  the  moment. 
Sweet  they  would  have  been  anywhere  to  any  eye  or 
mind;  but  I  was  a  homeless  trooper  lad,  and  sweeter 
to  the  soldier  boy  than  water  on  the  battlefield  are  short 
hours  with  ladies  who  love  him  for  his  banner  and  his 
rags. 

These  four  were  charmed  with  an  old  field  given  up 
to  sedge,  its  deep  rain-gullies  as  red  as  gaping  wounds, 
its  dead  trees  in  tatters  of  long  gray  moss.  Estelle 
became  a  student  of  flowers,  Cecile  of  birds,  Camille  of 
trees.  All  my  explanations  were  alike  enchantingly 
strange.  To  their  minds  it  had  never  occurred  that  the 
land  sloped  the  same  way  the  water  ran!  When  told 
that  these  woods  abounded  in  deer  and  wild  turkey  they 
began  to  look  out  for  them  at  every  new  turn  of  the 
road. 

34 


The  Dandy's  Task 

And  the  turns  came  fast.  Happy  miles,  happy 
leagues ;  each  hour  was  of  a  mellower  sweetness  than 
the  last;  they  seemed  to  ripen  in  the  sun.  The  only 
drawback  was  my  shame  of  a  sentimental  situation,  but 
once  or  twice  I  longed  to  turn  the  whole  equipage  into 
the  woods — or  the  ditch.  As,  for  instance,  when  three 
pine-woods  cavalrymen  had  no  sooner  got  by  us  thao 
they  set  up  that  ribald  old  camp-song, 

"  We're  going  to  get  married,  mamma,  mamma ; 
We're  going  to  get  married,  but  don't  tell  pa " 

"  Deserters,  I  don't  doubt !  "  was  my  comment  to  the 
ladies.  Tongue  revenge  is  poor,  but  it  is  something. 

Except  in  such  moments,  however,  the  war  seemed 
farther  away  than  it  had  for  months  and  months.  But 
about  eleven  o'clock  we  began  to  find  the  way  scored  by 
the  fresh  ruts  of  heavy  wheels  and  the  dust  deepened 
by  hundred  of  hoofs.  The  tops  and  faces  of  the  road 
side  banks  were  newly  trampled  and  torn  by  clambering 
human  feet.  Here  was  a  canteen,  smashed  in  a  wheel- 
track  ;  yonder  a  fragment  of  harness ;  here  lay  a  broken 
hame,  there  was  the  half  of  a  russet  brogan  and  yonder 
a  ragged  sock  stained  and  bloody. 

"  Why,  what  does  all  this  mean?  "  asked  Miss  Harper 
amid  her  nieces'  cries. 

I  said  it  meant  Fisher's  battery  hurrying  to  the  front. 
Twenty  miles  since  five  that  morning  was  a  marvel, 
horse  artillery  though  they  were,  for,  as  I  pointed  out 
by  many  signs,  their  animals  were  in  ill  condition. 
"We  shall  have  to  go  round  them  by  neighborhood 

35 


The  Cavalier 

roads,"  I  said,  and  presently  we  were  deeper  than  ever 
in  woodland  shades  and  sources  of  girlish  wonderment. 
The  humid  depths  showed  every  sort  of  green  and  gray, 
their  trunks,  bushes  and  boughs,  bearded  with  hanging 
moss,  robed  with  tangled  vines  and  chapleted  with 
mistletoe.  We  seemed  to  have  got  this  earth  quite  to 
ourselves  and  very  much  to  our  liking. 

One  o'clock.  Miss  Harper  suggested  a  halt  to  feed 
the  horses.  I,  knowing  what  it  would  cost  me  to  dis 
mount  and  go  walking  about,  said  no,  thrice  no;  let 
us  first  get  back  upon  the  main  road  in  front  of  that 
battery.  On,  therefore,  we  hurried,  and  soon  the  real 
ity  of  the  war  was  vivid  to  us  again.  In  a  stretch  of 
wet  road  where  the  team  had  mutely  begged  leave  to 
walk  and  the  ladies  had  urged  me  to  sing  we  had  at 
length  paused  in  a  pebbly  rivulet  to  allow  the  weary 
animals  to  drink,  and  the  girls  and  the  aunt  and  the 
greenwood  and  I  were  all  in  chorus  bidding  some 
body 

"  Unloose  the  west  port  and  let  us  go  free," 

when,  just  as  our  last  note  died  among  the  trees  one 
of  us  cried,  "  Listen !  "  and  through  the  stillness  there 
came  from  far  away  on  our  right  the  last  three  measures 
of  a  bugle  sounding  The  March. 

My  eyes  rested  in  Camille's  and  hers  in  mine.  A 
musical  license  gave  us  the  courage.  At  the  last  note 
our  gaze  did  not  sink  but  took  on  more  glow,  while  out 
of  the  forest  behind  us  a  distant  echo  answered  the  last 
measure  of  the  strain. 

36 


The  Dandy's  Task 

Then  our  eyes  slowly  fell ;  and  however  it  may  have 
seemed  to  her,  to  me  it  was  as  if  the  vanished  strains 
were  not  only  or  chiefly  of  bugle  and  echo,  but  as 
though  our  two  hearts  had  called  and  answered  in  that  \ 
melodious  unison. 

All  that  warm  afternoon  we  paid  the  tiresome  penalty 
of  having  pushed  our  animals  too  smartly  at  the  outset. 
We  grew  sedate;  sedate  were  the  brows  of  the  few 
strangers  we  met.  We  talked  in  pairs.  When  I  spoke 
with  Miss  Harper  the  four  listened.  She  asked  about 
the  evils  of  camp  life ;  for  she  was  one  of  that  fine  sort 
to  whom  righteousness  seems  every  man's  and  woman's 
daily  business,  one  of  the  most  practical  items  in  the 
world's  affairs.  And  I  said  camp  life  was  fearfully  cor* 
rupting;  that  the  merest  boys  cursed  and  swore  and 
stole,  or  else  were  scorned  as  weaklings.  Then  I  grew 
meekly  silent  and  we  talked  in  pairs  again,  and  because 
I  yearned  to  talk  most  with  Camille  I  talked  most  with 
Estelle.  Three  times  when  I  turned  abruptly  from  her 
to  Camille  and  called,  "  Hark !  "  the  fagged-out  horses 
halted,  and  as  we  struck  our  listening  pose  the  bugle's 
faint  sigh  ever  farther  in  our  rear  was  but  feebly  pro 
portioned  to  the  amount  of  our  gazing  into  each  other's 
eyes. 

Once,  when  we  were  not  halted  or  harkening,  we 
heard  overmuch;  heard  that  which  brought  us  to  an 
instant  stand  and  caused  even  Miss  Harper  to  gaze  on 
me  with  dismayed  eyes  and  parted  lips,  and  the  blood  to 
go  thumping  through  my  veins.  From  a  few  hundred 
yards  off  in  the  northwest,  beyond  the  far  corner  of 
an  old  field  and  the  woods  at  its  back,  two  gunshots 

37 


The  Cavalier 

together,  then  a  third,  with  sharp,  hot  cries  of  alarum 
and  command,  and  then  another  and  another  shot,  rang 
out  and  spread  wanderingly  across  the  tender  land 
scape. 


THE  SOLDIER'S  HOUR 

To  regain  the  highroad  we  had  turned  into  a  north 
erly  fork,  and  were  in  as  lovely  a  spot  as  we  had  seen  all 
day.  Before  us  and  close  on  our  right  were  the  dense 
woods  of  magnolia,  water-oak,  tupelo  and  a  hundred 
other  affluent  things  that  towered  and  spread  or  clam 
bered  and  hung.  On  the  left  lay  the  old  field,  tawny 
with  bending  sedge  and  teeming  with  the  yellow  rays 
of  the  sun's  last  hour.  This  field  we  overlooked 
through  a  fence-row  of  persimmon  and  wild  plum. 
Among  these  bushes,  half  fallen  into  a  rain-gully,  a  ca- 
talpa,  of  belated  bloom,  was  loaded  with  blossoms  and 
bees,  and  I  was  directing  Camille's  glance  to  it  when 
the  shots  came.  Another  outcry  or  two  followed,  and 
then  a  weird  silence. 

"  Some  of  our  boys  attacked  by  a  rabbit,"  I  sug 
gested,  but  still  hearkened. 

"  That  was  not  play,  Mr.  Smith,"  Miss  Harper  had 
begun  to  respond,  when  a  voice  across  the  sedge-field 
called  with  startling  clearness, 

"  Hi !  there  goes  one  of  them ! — Halt ! — Halt,  you 
blue — "  pop ! — pop ! — pop ! 

"  Prisoners  making  a  break!"  I  forgot  all  my  tat 
ters  and  stood  on  tiptoe  in  the  stirrups  to  overpeer  the 

38 


The  Soldier's  Hour 

fence-row.  The  next  instant — "  Sh — sh !  "  said  I  and 
slid  to  the  ground.  "  Hold  this  bridle!  "  I  gave  it  to 
Camille.  "  Don't  one  of  you  make  a  sound  or  a  mo 
tion;  there's  a  Yankee  coming  across  this  field  in  the 
little  gully  just  behind  us." 

I  bent  low,  ran  a  few  steps,  cocking  my  revolver  as 
I  went.  Then  I  rose,  peeped,  bent  again,  ran,  rose, 
peeped,  waited  a  few  seconds  behind  the  catalpa,  and 
without  rising  peeped  once  more.  Here  he  came !  He 
was  an  officer.  His  uniform  was  torn  and  one  whole 
side  of  him  showed  he  had  at  some  earlier  hour  ridden 
through  a  hedge  and  fallen  from  his  horse.  On  he 
came  !  nearer — nearer — oh,  what  a  giant !  Quickly, 
warily,  he  crouched  under  the  fence  where  it  hung  low 
across  the  gully,  and  half  through  it  in  that  huddled 
posture  he  found  my  revolver  between  his  astonished 
eyes.  I  did  not  yell  at  him,  for  I  did  not  want  the  men 
he  had  escaped  from  to  come  and  take  him  from  me; 
yet  when  I  said,  "  Halt,  or  you  die!  "  the  four  ladies 
heard  me  much  too  plainly.  For,  frankly,  I  said  more 
and  worse.  I  felt  my  slenderness,  my  beardless  youth, 
my  rags,  and  his  daring,  and  to  offset  them  all  in  a 
bunch,  I — I  cursed  him.  I  let  go  only  one  big  damn 
and  I've  never  spoken  one  since,  though  I've  done  many 
a  worse  thing,  of  course.  I  protest  it  was  my  modesty 
prompted  it  then. 

"  I  surrender,"  he  said,  with  amiable  ease.  I  stepped 
back  a  pace  and  he  drew  out  and  straightened  up — 
the  tallest  man  I  had  ever  seen.  I  laughed,  he  smiled, 
laughed ;  my  eyes  filled  with  tears,  I  blazed  with  rage, 
and  in  plain  sight  and  hearing  of  those  ladies  he  said, 

39 


The  Cavalier 

"  That's  all  right,  my  son,  get  as  scared  as  you  like ; 
only,  you  don't  need  to  cry  about  it." 

"  Hold  your  tongue !  "  I  barked  my  wrath  like  a 
frightened  puppy,  drawing  back  a  stride  and  laying 
my  eye  closer  along  the  pistol.  "  If  you  call  me  your 
son  again  I'll  send  you  to  your  fathers." 

His  smile  darkened.  "  I  am  your  prisoner,"  he 
said,  with  a  sudden  splendid  stateliness,  and  right  then 
I  guessed  who  he  was. 

"  Yess,  ssir,  you  are !  "  I  retorted.  "  Move  to  that 
wagon !  And  if  you  take  one  step  out  of  common  time 
you'll  never  take  another." 

The  aunt  and  her  nieces  were  standing  in  the  carry 
all,  she  majestic,  they  laughing  and  weeping  in  the  one 
act.  I  waved  them  into  their  seats. 

"Halt!"  We  halted.  "About  face!"  As  the 
prisoner  eyed  me  both  of  us  listened.  His  equanimity 
was  almost  winsome,  and  I  saw  that  friendliness  was 
going  to  be  his  tactics. 

"  Guess  I'm  the  first  Yankee  y'  ever  caught,  ain't 
I  ?  "  His  smile  was  superior,  but  congratulatory. 

"  You'll  be  the  first  prisoner  I  ever  shot  if  you  get 
any  funnier ! " 

We  listened  again.  "  They've  gone  the  wrong  way," 
I  said,  still  savage. 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  I  came  the  wrong  way." 

The  ladies  smiled ;  I  glowered.  "  Take  those  horses 
by  their  heads  and  turn  them  to  me !  " 

An  instant  his  superb  eye  resented,  but  then  he 
pleasantly  did  my  bidding.  "  Suits  me  well ;  rather 
chance  it  with  you  than  with  those  I've  just  left." 

40 


Captain  Jewett 


"Easier  to  get  away,  you  think?"  I  asked,  with  a 
worse  frown  than  ever,  as  he  stepped  into  the  carry-all 
and  took  the  lines. 

"  No,  not  so  easy ;  but  those  fellows  are  Arkansans, 
and  they're  in  a  bad  humor  with  me." 

I  took  the  hint  and  grew  less  ferocious.  "  While 
you,"  I  said,  "  are  Captain  Jewett." 

"  I  am,"  was  his  reply,  and  my  heart  leaped  for  joy. 
We  hurried  away.  My  captive  was  the  most  daring 
Union  scout  between  Vicksburg  and  New  Orleans; 
these  very  Harpers  knew  that.  The  thing  unknown 
to  us  was  that  already  his  fate  was  entangled  with  Ned 
Ferry's  and  Charlotte  Oliver's,  as  yet  more  it  would 
be,  with  theirs  and  ours,  in  days  close  at  hand. 

XI 

CAPTAIN   JEWETT 

ONCE  more  we  were  in  the  by-road  which  had 
brought  us  westward  parallel  with  the  highway. 
The  prisoner  drove.  Aunt  Martha  sat  beside  him, 
slim,  dark,  black-eyed,  stately,  her  silver-gray  hair 
rolled  high  a  la  Pompadour.  With  a  magnanimity 
rare  in  those  bitter  days  she  incited  him  to  talk,  first 
of  New  Orleans,  where  he  had  spent  a  month  in  camp 
on  one  of  the  public  squares,  and  then  of  his  far  north 
ern  home,  and  of  loved  ones  there,  mother,  wife  and 
child.  The  nieces,  too,  gave  a  generous  attention. 
Only  I,  riding  beside  the  hind  wheels,  held  solemnly 
aloof. 

"  Front ! "  I  once  snapped  out  with  a  ring  that  made 

41 


The  Cavalier 

the  trees  reply  and  the  ladies  catch  their  breath.  "  If 
you  steal  one  more  look  back  here  I'll  put  a  ball  into 
your  leg." 

He  smiled,  chirped  the  horses  up  and  resumed  his 
chat.  I  heard  him  praise  my  horse  and  compare  him 
not  unfavorably  with  his  own  which  he  had  lost  that 
morning.  He  and  a  few  picked  men  had  been  sur 
prised  in  a  farmhouse  at  breakfast.  They  had  made  a 
leap  and  a  dash,  he  said,  but  one  horse  and  rider  fall 
ing  dead,  his  horse,  unhurt,  had  tumbled  over  them, 
and  here  was  his  rider. 

I  prompted  Camille  to  ask  if  he  had  ever  encoun 
tered  Ned  Ferry,  and  he  laughed. 

"  No,"  he  said,  but  Ned  Ferry  had  lately  restored 
to  him,  by  proxy,  some  lost  letters,  with  an  invitation 
to  come  and  see  him. 

I  laughed  insolently.  The  young  ladies  sparkled, 
and  so  did  Miss  Harper,  as  she  asked  him  who  had 
been  the  proxy. 

He  said  the  proxy  was  a  young  woman  who  had  a 
knack  of  getting  passes  through  the  lines,  and  the 
three  girls  exchanged  looks  as  knowing  as  they  were 
delighted. 

"  I  tell  her  as  a  friend,"  he  said,  "  she'll  get  one 
into  Fortress  Monroe  yet ! " 

Miss  Harper's  keen  eyes  glittered.  "  You  north 
erners  hardly  realize  our  feelings  concerning  the  im 
prisonment  of  women,  I  think." 

"  My  dear  madam,  you  don't  realize  ours.  We  don't 
want  to  imprison  women." 

So  there  came  a  silence,  and  then  a  gay  laugh  as 
42 


Captain  Jewett 


three  of  us  at  once  asked  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  Lieu 
tenant  Durand.  "  Durand !  "  he  cried,  and  looked 
squarely  around  at  me.  I  lifted  the  cocked  revolver, 
but  he  kept  his  fine  eyes  on  mine  and  I  rubbed  my 
ear  with  my  wrist.  "  What  ?  "  he  said,  "  an  elegant, 
Creole-seeming  young  fellow,  very  handsome  ?  Why, 
that  fellow  saved  my  life  this  very  afternoon." 

The  young  ladies  were  in  rapture.  Miss  Harper 
asked  how  he  had  done  it. 

"  If  I  tell  you  that,"  said  the  Captain,  "  you  won't 
like  me  the  least  bit." 

Whereat  Cecile  replied,  "  Ah — well !  we  cou'n'  like 
you  the  leaz  bit  any-'0w." 

"I  suppose  that's  so,"  laughed  the  officer.  "I'll 
tell  you  how  it  was.  My  guard  were  just  about  to 
hang  me  for  saying  I  thought  we  had  a  right  to 
make  soldiers  of  the  darkies,  when  your  friend  came 
galloping  along,  saw  the  thing,  and  rushed  in  and  cut 
the  halter  with  his  sword.  And  when  they  demanded 
to  know  who  and  what  he  was,  he  told  them  Durand, 
and  that  they'd  hear  it  again,  for  he  should  report 
them." 

"  Oh,  sir,"  cried  Estelle,  whose  eyes,  brows,  lashes 
and  hair  were  all  of  the  same  luminous  red-brown, 
and  in  whose  cheeks  the  rose  seemed  always  to  burn 
through  the  olive,  "  how  can  you  and  your  people  seek 
to  kill  such  men  as  that  ?  " 

"  Such  as  which  ?  "  asked  the  Yankee,  with  a  twin 
kle.  "  There  were  two  kinds." 

"  But,  o-oh !  sir ! "  exclaimed  the  trio,  when  Miss 
Harper  waved  them  to  forbear. 

43 


The  Cavalier 

There  was  yet  some  daylight  left  as  we  trundled 
into  a  broad  highroad  and  turned  northward.  We 
passed  a  picket  guard  and  then  a  whole  regiment  of 
cavalry  going  into  camp.  They  scrambled  to  the  sides 
of  the  road  and  stormed  us  with  questions,  chaffing 
us  cruelly  when  I  remained  silent.  "  Lawd !  look  a' 
this-yeh  Yank  a-bringin'  in  ow  desertehs !  "  "  Hey, 
you  big  Yank,  you  jest  let  that  po'  little  conscrip'  go !  " 

Headquarters,  we  heard  from  a  courier  who  said  he 
was  the  third  sent  out  to  find  us,  were  at  the  "  Sessions 
house  "  two  miles  further  on.  We  sent  him  galloping 
back  there,  and  after  a  while  here  came  Major  Harper 
and  three  or  four  others  of  the  staff,  including  Harry 
Helm.  What  a  flood  of  mirthful  compliment  there 
was  at  sight  of  us  and  our  captive ;  Harry  was  posi 
tively  silly.  In  the  series  of  introductions  that  followed 
he  was  left  paired  with  Camille,  and  I  said  things  to 
myself.  Major  Harper  rode  by  the  prisoner.  "  Well, 
Captain,"  he  said,  "  you've  had  some  experiences  since 
you  left  me  this  morning.  Don't  you  want  to  give 
us  your  parole  this  time,  temporarily,  for  an  hour  or 
so,  and  be  more  comfortable  ?  " 

"  Thank  you,  Major,"  the  Federal  affably  replied, 
"  that  would  be  a  great  relief  to  this  most  extraordinary 
youngster  that  I've  brought  with  me."  He  gave  it 
and  we  turned  into  a  lofty  grove  whitened  with  our 
headquarters  tents. 

"  Smith,"  said  the  Major,  "  your  part  is  done,  and 
well  done.  You  needn't  report  to  me  again  to-night ; 
the  General  wishes  to  see  you  a  moment.  Captain, 
will  you  go  with  this  young  man  to  General  Austin's 
tent?" 

44 


In  the  General's  Tent 


XII 


IN  THE  GENERAL'S  TENT 


I  WENT  to  Gholson.  He  told  me  I  was  relieved  of 
my  captive  and  bade  me  go  care  for  my  horse  and 
return  in  half  an  hour.  In  going  I  passed  close  by 
the  Sessions  plantation  house.  Every  door  and  win 
dow  was  thrown  wide  to  the  night  air,  and  prepara 
tions  were  in  progress  for  a  dance ;  and  as  I  returned, 
a  slave  boy  ran  across  my  path,  toward  the  house, 
bearing  a  flaming  pine  torch  and  followed  by  two  am 
bulances  filled  with  daughters  of  the  neighborhood  in 
clouds  of  white  gauze.  I  found  the  General  in  fatigue 
dress.  His  new  finery  hung  on  the  tent-pole  at  his 
back.  Old  Dismukes,  the  bull-necked  colonel  of  the 
Arkansans,  lounged  on  a  camp-cot.  Both  smoked 
cigars. 

The  General  asked  me  a  number  of  idle  questions 
and  then  said  my  prisoner  had  called  me  a  good  sol 
dier.  Old  Dismukes  smiled  so  broadly  that  I  grew 
hot,  believing  the  Yankee  had  told  them  of  my  tears. 

"  Smith,"  said  the  Colonel,  and  then  smoked  and 
smiled  again  till  my  brow  beaded, — "  tired  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  That's  a  lie,"  he  pleasantly  remarked,  and  lay  back, 
enjoying  my  silent  wrath.  "  Send  him,  General,"  he 
added,  "  he's  your  man." 

The  General  looked  at  me  between  puffs  of  his  cigar. 
"  I  hear  you've  ridden  over  fifty  miles  to-day." 

"  Yes,  General" 

45 


The  Cavalier 


"  If  I  give  you  a  good  fresh  horse  can  you  go 
twenty-three  miles  more  by  midnight  ?  " 

"  Yes,  General,  if  I  don't  have  to  save  the  horse." 

"The  horse  may  have  to  save  you,"  drawled  the 
Arkansan. 

"  I  think  you  know  Lieutenant  Durand  ? "  asked 
the  General,  with  a  quizzical  eye. 

"  Slightly." 

"  Well,  Smith,  on  his  suggestion  approved  by  Major 
Harper,  I  have  detailed  another  clerk  to  the  Major." 

Rills  of  perspiration  tickled  my  back  like  flies. 
"  Can't  one  man  do  the  work  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  new  man  is  detailed  in  your  place." 

I  almost  leaped  from  the  ground  in  consternation. 
My  whole  frame  throbbed,  my  mouth  fell  open,  my 
tongue  was  tied. 

The  man  who  had  got  me  into  this  thing — this  bar 
rel—lifted  the  tent-flap.  "Mr.  Gholson,"  said  the 
General,  "  write  an  order  assigning  Smith  to  Ferry's 
scouts." 

The  flap  fell  again  and  my  panic  was  turned  into 
a  joy  qualified  only  by  a  reduced  esteem  for  my  gen 
eral  as  a  judge  of  character. 

Old  Dismukes  rose.  "  Good-night.  Shall  I  send 
this  boy  that  Yankee's  horse  ?  " 

"  Oh  I  was  forgetting  that ;  yes,  do !  " 

At  the  door  the  Colonel  gave  me  a  last  look. 
"  Good-night,  Legs." 

I  dared  not  retort,  but  I  looked  so  hard  at  his  paunch 
that  the  General  smiled.  Then  he  asked  me  if  I  knew 
where  we  were  then  camped,  and  I  said  we  were  on 

46 


In  the  General's  Tent 

the  Meadville  and  Fayette  road,  near  Franklin,  twenty 
miles  southeast  of  Fayette  and — 

"  That  will  do.  Now,  beyond  Fayette,  about  seven 
miles  north,  there's  a  place —  " 

"Clifton?" 

"  Don't  interrupt  me,  Smith.  Yes,  Clifton.  You're 
not  to  reach  there  to-night — " 

"  I  can  do  it,  General." 

"  You  can  do  as  you're  told ;  understand  ?  "  I  un 
derstood. 

"  The  enemy  are  in  Fayette  to-night,"  he  continued. 
"  So  when  you  get  half-way  to  Fayette,  just  across 
Morgan's  Creek,  you'll  take  a  dim  fork  on  the  right 
running  north  along  the  creek.  Ever  travel  by  the 
stars?" 

I  began  to  tell  how  well  I  knew  the  stars,  but  he 
stopped  me.  "  Yes ;  well,  keep  straight  north  till  you 
strike  the  road  running  east  and  west  between  Fayette 
and  Union  Church.  You'll  find  there  a  little  polling- 
place  called  Wiggins.  Turn  west,  toward  Fayette,  and 
on  the  north  side  of  the  main  road,  opposite  the  black 
smith's  shop,  you'll  come  to  a  small — " 

"  I  see." 

"  What  do  you  see  ?  "  His  frown  scared  me  to  my 
finger-tips. 

"Wrhy,  I  suppose  I'm  to  find  there  a  road  down 
Cole's  Creek  to  Clifton." 

"  Smith,  if  you  interrupt  me  again,  sir,  you'll  find 
the  road  back  to  your  regiment.  Opposite  that  black 
smith's  shop  you'll  see  a  white  cottage.  There's  a 
young  lady  stopping  there  to-night,  a  stranger,  a  trav- 

47 


The  Cavalier 

cller.  The  old  lady  who  lives  there  has  taken  her  in 
at  my  request.  See  that  the  young  lady  gets  this  en 
velope.  It's  no  great  matter,  merely  a  pass  through 
our  lines ;  but  it's  your  ostensible  business  till  you  get 
there;  understand?" 

I  thought  I  did  until  I  glanced  at  the  superscrip 
tion:  Miss  Coralie  Rothvelt. 

"  Now,  here  is  another  matter  of  much  more  im 
portance."  He  showed,  but  retained,  another  envelope. 
"  Behind  the  house  where  you're  to  find  Miss  Roth 
velt  there's  a  road  into  Cole's  Creek  bottom.  The 
house  you're  to  stop  at  to-night,  say  from  twelve  o'clock 
till  three  or  half-past,  is  on  that  road,  about  five  miles 
from  Wiggins,  from  Clifton  and  from  Fayette.  I'm 
sending  you  there  expecting  the  people  in  that  house 
will  rob  you  if  you  give  them  half  a  chance." 

"  I  understand,  General ;  they'll  not  get  it." 

"  Smith,  I  want  them  to  get  it.  I  want  them  to  rob 
you  of  this."  He  waggled  the  envelope.  "  I  want  this 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  as  it  will  if  those 
people  rob  you  of  it." 

I  snapped  my  eyes.  He  smiled  and  then  frowned. 
"  I  don't  want  a  clumsy  job,  now,  mind !  I  don't  want 
you  to  get  captured  if  you  can  possibly  avoid  it;  but 
all  the  same  they  mustn't  get  this  so  easily  as  to  sus 
pect  it's  a  bait.  So  I  want  you  to  give  those  villains 
that  half-chance  to  rob  you,  but  not  the  other  half,  or 
they  may — oh,  it's  no  play!  You  must  manage  to 
have  this  despatch  taken  from  you  totally  against  your 
will !  Then  you  must  reach  Clifton  shortly  after  day 
light.  Ferry's  scouts  are  there,  and  you'll  say  to 

48 


In  the  General's  Tent 

Lieutenant  Ferry  the  single  word,  Rodney.  Under 
stand  ?  "  He  pretended  to  be  reconsidering.  "  I — 
don't  know  but — after  all — I'd  better  send  one  of  my 
staff  instead  of  you." 

"  Oh,  General,  if  you  send  an  officer  they'll  see  the 
ruse !  I  can  do  it !  I'll  do  it  all  right !  " 

"  I'm  most  afraid,"  he  said,  abstractedly,  as  he  read 
my  detail,  which  Gholson  brought  in.  "  Here," — he 
handed  it  to  me  —  "and  here,  here's  the  despatch 
too." 

"  What's  the  name,  General,  of  the  man  whose  house 
I'm  to  go  to?" 

"  You'd  best  not  know ;  I  want  you  to  seem  to  have 
stumbled  upon  the  place.  You  can't  miss  it;  there's 
no  other  house  within  two  miles  of  it.  Good-bye,  my 
lad ;  " — he  gave  me  his  hand ; — "  good  luck  to  you." 

Gholson,  in  the  Adjutant-general's  tent,  told  me  Ned 
Ferry  had  named  me  to  the  General  as  a  first-class 
horseman  and  the  most  insignificant-looking  person 
he  knew  of  who  was  fit  for  this  venture. 

"  Ned  Ferry !  What  does  Ned  Ferry  know  about 
my  fitness  ?  " 

"  Read  the  address  on  your  despatch,"  said  Ghol 
son,  resuming  his  pen. 

I  snatched  the  document  from  my  bosom,  into  which 
I  had  thrust  it  to  seize  the  General's  hand  "  Oh,  Ghol 
son  !  "  I  said,  in  deep-toned  grief,  as  I  looked  up  from 
the  superscription,  "  is  that  honest !  " 

He  admitted  that  by  the  true  religionist's  standard 
it  was  not  honest,  but  reminded  me  that  Ned  Ferry 
—in  his  blindness — was  only  a  poor  romanticist.  The 

49 


The  Cavalier 

despatch  was  addressed  to  Lieutenant  Edgard  Ferry- 
Durand. 

Major  Harper's  black  boy  brought  me  the  Yankee's 
horse  with  my  bridle  and  saddle  on  him;  an  elegant 
animal  as  fresh  as  a  dawn  breeze.  Also  he  produced 
a  parcel,  my  new  uniform,  and  a  wee  note  whose  breath 
smelt  of  lavender  as  it  said, — 

"  Papa  tells  us  you  are  being  sent  off  on  courier 
duty  to-night.  What  a  heart-breaking  thing  is  war! 
How  full  of  cruel  sepa' — " 

That  piece  of  a  word  was  scored  out  and  "  dangers  " 
written  in  its  place.  The  missive  ended  all  too  soon, 
with  the  statement  that  I  was  requested  to  call,  on  my 
way  out  of  camp,  at  the  side  gallery  of  the  house — 
Sessions's — and  let  the  writer  and  her  sister  and  her 
cousin  and  her  father  and  her  aunt  see  me  in  my  new 
uniform  and  bid  me  good-bye. 

XIII 

GOOD-BYE,  DICK 

I  FOUND  but  one  white  figure  under  the  dim  veranda 
eaves.  "  Miss  Camille?  " 

"  Wh* — who  is  that  ?  "  responded  a  musical  voice. 
"  Why,  is  that  Mr.  Smith?  "  as  if  I  were  the  last  person 
in  the  world  one  should  have  expected  to  see  there. 
The  like  of  those  moments  I  had  never  known.  I  saw 
her  eyes  note  the  perfect  fit  of  my  uniform,  though 
neither  of  us  mentioned  it.  I  tried  to  tell  her  that 
Lieutenant  Durand  was  Ned  Ferry  and  that  I  was  now 

50 


Good-Bye,  Dick 


one  of  his  scouts,  but  she  had  already  heard  both  facts, 
and  would  not  tell  me  what  her  father  had  said  about 
me,  it  was  so  good.  Standing  at  the  veranda's  edge  a 
trifle  above  me,  with  her  cheek  against  one  of  the  posts 
and  her  gaze  on  her  slipper,  she  asked  if  I  was  glad  I 
was  going  with  Ned  Ferry,  and  I  had  no  more  sense 
than  to  say  I  was;  but  she  would  neither  say  she  was 
glad  nor  tell  why  she  was  not. 

Through  the  open  windows  we  could  see  the  dancers. 
Now  and  then  a  pair  of  fanning  promenaders  came 
down  the  veranda,  but  on  descrying  us  turned  back. 
I  said  I  was  keeping  her  from  the  dance.  To  which 
she  replied,  drooping  her  head  again,  that  she  shouldn't 
dance  that  night. 

"Too  tired?" 

"  No." 

"Too  warm?" 

"  Oh,  no,  not  too  warm." 

"Why,  then?" 

«  Oh— I—just  don't  feel  as  if  I  could,  that's  all." 

My  heart  beat  wildly  and  I  wanted  to  ask  if  it  was  on 
my  account;  but  I  was  too  pusillanimous  a  coward, 
and  when  I  feebly  tried  to  look  into  her  eyes  she  would 
not  let  me,  which  convinced  me  that  she  lacked  candor. 
A  dance  ended.  Gold-laced  fellows  came  and  sat  on 
the  veranda  rail  wiping  wrists  and  brows  with  over 
tasked  handkerchiefs,  and  explaining  the  small  mis 
haps  of  the  floor.  Two  promenaders  mentioned  the 
hour.  I  gasped  my  amazement  and  extended  my  hand. 
"  Good-bye." 

"  Wait  a  moment,"  she  murmured,  and  watched  the 

51 


The  Cavalier 

promenading  pair  turn  back.  Then  she  asked  if  I  had 
read  my  mother's  letter.  I  said  I  had.  And  then,  very 
pensively,  with  head  bent  and  eyes  once  more  down, 
she  inquired  if  I  liked  to  get  letters.  Which  led,  quite 
accidentally,  to  my  asking  leave  to  write  to  her. 

She  replied  that  she  did  not  mean  that.  Neverthe 
less,  I  insisted,  would  she?  She  only  bent  lower  still. 
I  asked  the  third  time ;  and  with  nothing  but  the  part 
ing  of  her  hair  for  me  to  look  at,  she  nodded,  and  one 
of  her  braids  fell  over  in  front,  and  I  took  the  pink- 
ribboned  live  end  of  it  timorously  between  thumb  and 
finger  and  felt  as  if  I  had  hold  of  an  electric  battery. 

She  backed  half  a  step,  and  quite  needlessly  I  let  it 
go.  Then  she  bade  me  not  forget  I  had  promised  her 
the  words  of  a  certain  song.  "Want  them?  Indeed, 
yes !  Did  you  not  say  it  was  an  unpublished  song  writ 
ten  by  a  messmate  of  yours? — oh,  Mr.  Smith!  I  see 
why  you  stammer !  You  said  '  a  member  of  your 
mess  ' !  oh ! — oh ! — oh ! — you  wrote  it,  yourself !  And 
you  wrote  it  to-day !  That  explains — "  She  drew  an 
awesome  breath,  rose  to  her  toes  and  knit  her  knuckles 
under  her  throat. 

I  was  in  the  sweetest  consternation.  With  the  end 
of  her  braid  once  more  in  my  fingers  I  made  her  prom 
ise  to  keep  the  dark  secret,  and  so  recited  them. 

"  Maiden  passing  fair,  turn  away  thine  eyes ! 

Turn  away  thine  eyes  ere  my  bosom  burn, 
Lit  with  foolish  hope  to  hear  thy  fondling  sighs, 

Like  yon  twilight  dove's,  breathe,  Return,  return! 
Turn  away  thine  eyes,  maiden  passing  fair. 

O  maiden  passing  fair,  turn  away  thine  eyes ! 

52 


Good-Bye,  Dick 

"Maiden  passing  fair,  turn  again  thine  eyes! 

Turn  again  thine  eyes,  love's  true  mercy  learn. 
Breathe,  O!  breathe  to  me,  as  these  love-languid  skies 

To  yon  twilight  star  breathe,  Return,  return! 
Turn  again  thine  eyes,  maiden  passing  fair. 

O  maiden  passing  fair,  turn  again  thine  eyes !  " 

"  Mis-ter  Smith !  you  wrote  that  ? — to-day !  Wh' — 
who  is  she?  " 

"  One  too  modest,"  I  murmured,  "  to  know  her  own 
portrait."  I  clutched  the  braid  emotionally  and  let  it  go 
intending  to  retake  it;  but  she  dropped  it  behind  her 
and  said  I  was  too  imaginative  to  be  safe. 

I  stiffened  proudly,  turned  and  mounted  my  steed, 
but  her  eyes  drew  mine.  I  pressed  close,  bent  over  the 
saddle-bow,  and  said,  "  Good-bye,  Camille." 

"  Good-bye."    I  could  barely  hear  it. 

"Oh!  —  good-bye,  just  anybody?"  I  asked;  and 
thereupon  she  gathered  up  all  her  misplaced  trust  in 
me,  all  her  maiden  ignorance  of  what  is  in  man,  and 
all  her  sweet  daring,  to  murmur — 

"  Good-bye,— Dick." 

I  caught  my  breath  in  rapture  and  rode  away.  She 
was  there  yet  when  I  looked  back — once — and  again — 
and  again.  And  when  I  looked  a  last  time  still  she  had 
not  moved.  Oh,  Camille,  Camille!  to  this  day  I  see 
you  standing  there  in  pink-edged  white,  pure,  silent, 
motionless,  a  summer-evening  cloud;  while  I,  my  body 
clad  in  its  unstained — only  because  unused — new  uni 
form,  and  my  soul  tricked  out  in  the  foolhardiness  and 
vanity  of  a  boy's  innocence,  rode  forth  into  the  night 
and  into  the  talons  of  overmastering  temptation. 

53 


The  Cavalier 

XIV 

CORALIE  ROTHVELT 

THE  night  was  still  and  sultry.  At  one  of  the  many 
camp-fires  on  the  edge  of  the  road  I  saw  the  Arkansas 
colonel  sitting  cross-legged  on  the  ground,  in  trousers, 
socks  and  undershirt,  playing  poker. 

Out  in  the  open  country  how  sweet  was  the  silence. 
Not  yet  have  I  forgotten  one  bright  star  of  that  night's 
sky.  My  mother  and  I  had  studied  the  stars  together. 
Lately  Camille,  her  letter  said,  had  learned  them  with 
her.  Now  the  heavens  dropped  meanings  that  were  for 
me  and  for  this  night  alone.  While  the  form  of  the 
maiden — passing  fair — yet  glimmered  in  the  firmament 
of  my  own  mind,  behind  me  in  the  south  soared  the 
Virgin ;  but  as  some  trees  screened  the  low  glare  of  our 
camp  I  saw,  just  rising  into  view  out  of  the  southeast, 
the  unmistakable  eyes  of  the  Scorpion.  But  these  fanci 
ful  oracles  only  flattered  my  moral  self-assurance,  and 
I  trust  that  will  be  remembered  which  I  forgot,  that  I 
had  not  yet  known  the  damsel  from  one  sun  to  the 
next. 

I  was  moving  briskly  along,  making  my  good  steed 
acquainted  with  me,  testing  his  education,  how  prompt 
ly,  for  instance/he  would  respond  to  rein-touch  and  to 
leg-pressure,  when  I  saw,  in  front,  coming  toward  me, 
three  riders.  Two  of  them  were  very  genteel  chaps, 
though  a  hand  of  each  was  on  the  lock  of  his  carbine. 
The  third  was  a  woman,  veiled,  and  clad  in  some  dark 
stuff  that  in  the  starlight  seemed  quite  black  and  con- 

54 


Coralie  Rothvelt 

trasted  strongly  with  the  paleness  of  her  horse.  Her 
hat,  in  particular,  fastened  my  attention ;  if  that  was  not 
the  same  soft-brimmed  Leghorn  I  had  seen  yesterday 
morning,  at  least  it  was  its  twin  sister.  I  halted,  re 
volver  in  hand,  and  said,  as  they  drew  rein, — "  Good- 
evening." 

"  Good-evening,"  replied  the  nearer  man.  "  How 
far  is  it  to  camp — Austin's  ?  " 

"  A  short  three  miles." 

"  To  what  command  do  you  belong?  "  he  asked. 

"  Ferry's  scouts.  What  command  is  yours,  gentle 
men?"  " 

"  Ferry's  scouts."  He  scrutinized  me.  "  What  com 
mand  do  you  say  you — " 

"  Ferry's  scouts,"  I  repeated.  "  F-e-r-r-y-apostro- 
phe  s,  Ferry's — s-k-o-w-t-s — scouts." 

The  trio  laughed,  the  young  woman  most  musically. 
"  How  long  have  you  belonged  to  Ferry's  scouts  ?  " 
sceptically  demanded  their  spokesman. 

"  About  an  hour  and  a  quarter." 

"  Oh !  that-a-way." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  in  that  direction." 

The  three  laughed  again  and  the  men  sank  their 
carbines  across  their  laps,  while  in  a  voice  as  refined 
as  her  figure  their  companion  said,  "  Good-evening,  Mr. 
Smith."  She  laid  back  her  veil  and  even  in  the  dark 
ness  I  felt  the  witchery  of  her  glance.  "  I  was  just 
coming  to  meet  you,"  she  continued,  "  to  get  the  letter 
you're  bringing  me  from  General  Austin.  I  feared  you 
might  try  to  come  around  by  Fayette,  not  knowing  the 
Yankees  are  there.  These  gentlemen  didn't  know  it." 

55 


The  Cavalier 

"  She  just  did  save  us ! "  laughed  the  man  hitherto 
silent. 

"  I'm  Miss  Coralie  Rothvelt,"  she  added,  and  then 
how  she  sparkled  in  the  dark  as  she  said,  "  I  see  you 
remember  me." 

"  I  am  but  human." 

"  And  yet  you  never  take  a  lady's  name  for  granted?  " 

"  I  am  to  know  Miss  Rothvelt  by  finding  her  in  a 
certain  place."  My  honeyed  bow  implied  that  her  be 
ing  just  now  very  much  out  of  place  was  no  fault  of 
mine. 

"  Nonsense!  "  muttered  both  men,  and  I  liked  them 
the  better. 

"My  dear  Smith,"  said  Miss  Rothvelt,  "keep 
your  trust.  But  if  I  part  here  with  these  two  kind 
gentlemen — " 

"  Who  don't  belong  to  Ferry's  scouts  at  all,"  I  still 
more  sweetly  added. 

"  No,"  she  laughed,  "  and  if  I  go  back  with  you  to 
Wiggins — to  the  little  white  cottage,  you  know,  oppo 
site  the  blacksmith's  shop, — you'll  give  me  what  you've 
got  for  me,  won't  you?  "  She  dropped  her  head  to  one 
side  and  a  mocking-bird  chuckle  rippled  in  her  throat. 

"  I  shall  count  myself  honored,"  said  I,  and  we  went, 
together  and  alone. 


Venus  and  Mars 
xv 

i 
VENUS  AND   MARS 

SINCE  those  days  men  have  made  "  fire-proof  "  build-  ' 
ings.  You  know  them;  let  certain  aggravations  com 
bine — they  burn  like  straw.  We  had  barely  started 
when  I  began  to  be  threatened  with  a  conflagration 
against  which  I  should  have  called  it  an  insult  to  have . 
been  warned.  The  adroit  beauty  at  my  side  set  in  to 
explain  more  fully  her  presence.  From  her  window  she 
had  seen  those  two  trim  fellows  hurrying  along  in  a 
fair  way  to  blunder  into  the  Federal  pickets  within  an 
hour,  had  cautioned  them,  and  had  finally  asked  leave 
to  come  with  them,  they  under  her  guidance,  she  under 
their  protection. 

"  You  were  so  anxious  to  get  the  General's  letter  ?  " 
I  asked. 

"  I  was  so  anxious  about  you,"  she  replied,  with  feel 
ing,  and  then  broke  into  a  quizzical  laugh. 

I  had  not  the  faintest  doubt  she  was  lying.  What  , 
was  I  to  her?  The  times  were  fearfully  out  of  joint;  \ 
women  as  well  as  men  were  taking  war's  licenses,  and 
with  a  boy's  unmerciful  directness  I  sprang  to  the  con 
clusion  that  here  was  an  adventuress.  Yet  I  had  some 
better  thoughts  too.  While  I  felt  a  moral  tipeiness 
going  into  all  my  veins,  I  asked  myself  if  it  was  not 
mainly  due  to  my  own  inability  to  rise  in  full  manliness 
to  a  most  exceptional  situation.  Her  jaunty  method 
of  confronting  it,  was  I  not  failing  to  regard  that  with 
due  magnanimity?  Was  this  the  truth,  or  after  all 

57 


The  Cavalier 

ought  I  really  to  see  that  at  every  turn  of  her  speech, 
by  coy  bendings  of  the  head,  by  the  dark  seductions  of 
dim  half-captive  locks  about  her  oval  temples,  and  by 
many  an  indescribable  swaying  of  the  form  and  of  the 
voice,  I  was  being — to  speak  it  brutally — challenged? 
Even  in  the  poetic  obscurity  of  the  night  I  lost  all 
steadiness  of  eye  as  I  pertly  said — 

"  And  so  here  you  are  in  this  awful  fix." 

"  I'm  enjoying  one  advantage,"  she  replied,  "  which 
you  do  not." 

"What  is  that?" 

"  Why,  I  can  read  my  safety  in  your  face.  You  can't 
read  anything  in  mine ;  you're  afraid  to  look." 

All  I  got  by  looking  then  was  a  mellow  laugh  from 
behind  her  relowered  veil;  but  we  were  going  at  a 
swift  trot,  nearing  a  roadside  fire  of  fence-rails  left  by 
some  belated  foraging  team,  and  as  she  came  into  the 
glare  of  it  I  turned  my  eyes  a  second  time.  She  was 
revealed  in  a  garb  of  brown  enriched  by  the  red  beams 
of  the  fire,  and  was  on  the  gray  mare  I  had  seen  that 
morning  under  Lieutenant  Edgard  Ferry-Durand. 

"  You  recognize  her  ?  "  the  rider  asked,  delightedly. 
"  She's  not  stolen,  she's  only  served  her  country  a  little 
better  than  usual  to-day ;  haven't  you,  Cousin  Sallie  ?  " 
(Cousin  Sallie  was  short  for  Confederate  States.) 

The  note  of  patriotism  righted  me  and  I  looked  a 
third  time.  The  one  art  of  dress  worth  knowing  in 
'63  was  to  slight  its  fashions  without  offending 
them,  and  this  pretty  gift  I  had  marked  all  day  in 
the  Harpers.  But  never  have  I  seen  it  half  so  suc 
cessful  as  in  the  veiled  horsewoman  illumined  by  the 

58 


Venus  and  Mars 

side-lights  of  those  burning  fence-rails.  The  white  ap 
parition  at  the  veranda's  edge  gleamed  in  my  mind,  yet 
swiftly  faded  out,  and  a  new  fascination,  more  sudden 
than  worthy  heaved  at  my  heart.  Then  the  fire  was 
behind  us  and  we  were  in  the  deep  night. 

On  the  crest  of  a  ridge  we  slackened  speed  and 
my  fellow-traveller  lifted  her  veil  and  asked  exultantly 
what  those  two  splendid  stars  were  that  overhung  yon 
der  fringe  of  woods  so  low  and  so  close  to  each  other. 
The  less  brilliant  one,  I  said,  the  red  one,  was  Mars. 

"And  the  one  following,  almost  at  his  side?" 

"  Don't  you  know?  "  I  asked. 

Her  eyes  flashed  round  upon  me  like  stars  them 
selves.  "  Not — Venus?  "  she  whispered,  snatched  in 
her  breath,  bit  her  lip,  and  half  averting  her  face,  shot 
me  through  with  both  "  twinklers  "  at  once.  Then  she 
took  a  long  look  at  the  planets  and  suddenly  exclaimed 
with  a  scandalized  air — 

"  They're  going  down  into  the  woods  together!  " 

"  Yes,"  I  responded,  "  and  without  even  waiting  for 
Diana." 

She  dropped  the  rein  and  lifted  both  arms  toward 
them.  "  Oh,  blessings  on  your  glorious  old  heathen 
hearts,  what  do  you  want  of  Diana,  or  of  any  one  in 
heaven  or  earth  except  each  other!  " 

Foolish,  idle  cry,  and  meant  for  no  more,  by  a  heart 
on  fire  with  temptations  of  which  I  knew  nothing.  But 
then  and  there  my  poor  adolescent  soul  found  out  that 
the  preceptive  stuff  of  which  it  had  built  its  treasure- 
house  and  citadel  was  not  fire-proof. 


59 


The  Cavalier 

XVI 

AN  ACHING   CONSCIENCE 

YET  great  is  precept.  Precept  is  a  well.  Up  from 
its  far  depths  by  slow,  humble,  constant  process  you 
may  draw,  in  a  slender  silver  thread,  and  store  for  sud 
den  use,  the  pure  waters  of  character. 

It  has  happened,  however,  that  a  man's  own  armor 
has  been  the  death  of  him.  So  the  moral  isolation  of 
a  young  prig  of  good  red  blood  who  is  laudably  trying 

vto  pump  his  conduct  higher  than  his  character — for 
that's  the  way  he  gets  his  character  higher — has  its  own 
peculiar  dangers.  Take  this  example:  that  he  does 
not  dream  any  one  will,  or  can,  in  mere  frivolity,  co 
quette,  dally,  play  mud-pies,  with  a  passion  the  sacred- 
est  in  subjection,  the  shamefulest  in  mutiny,  and  the 
deepest  and  most  perilous  to  tamper  with,  in  our 
nature.  As  hotly  alive  in  the  nethermost  cavern  of  his 
heart  as  in  that  of  the  vilest  rogue  there  is  a  kennel  of 
hounds  to  which  one  word  of  sophistry  is  as  the  call  to 

Uhe  chase,  and  such  a  word  I  believed  my  companion 
had  knowingly  spoken.  I  was  gone  as  wanton-tipsy 
as  any  low-flung  fool,  and  actually  fancied  myself  in 
vited  to  be  valiant  by  this  transparent  embodiment  of 
passion  whose  outburst  of  amorous  rebellion  had  been 
uttered  not  because  I  was  there,  but  only  in  pure  reck 
lessness  of  my  presence.  \Of  course  I  ought  to  have 
seen  that  this  was  a  soul* only  over-rich  in  woman's 
love;  mettlesome,  aspiring,  but  untrained  to  renuncia 
tion;  consciously  superior  in  mind  and  soul  to  the 

60 


An  Aching  Conscience 

throng  about  her,  and  caught  in  some  hideous  gin  of 
iron-bound — convention-bound — or  even  law-bound — 
foul  play^/But  I  was  so  besotted  as  to  suggest  a  base 
analogy  between  us  and  those  two  sinking  stars. 

Unluckily  she  retorted  with  some  playful  parry  that 
just  lacked  the  saving  quality  of  true  resentment.  How 
I  rejoined  would  be  small  profit  to  tell.  I  had  a  fearful 
sense  of  falling;  first  like  a  wounded  squirrel,  dropping 
in  fierce  amazement,  catching,  holding  on  for  a  panting 
moment,  then  dropping,  catching  and  dropping  again, 
down  from  the  top  of  the  great  tree  where  I  had  so 
lately  sat  scolding  all  the  forest;  and  then,  later,  witfy 
an  appalling  passivity.  And  at  every  fresh  exchange 
of  words,  while  she  laughed  and  fended,  and  fended  and 
laughed,  along  with  this  passivity  came  a  yet  more  ap 
palling  perversity ;  a  passivity  and  perversity  as  of  de 
lirium,  and  as  horrid  to  her  as  to  me,  though  I  little 
thought  so  then. 

We  came  where  a  line  of  dense  v/oods  on  our  left 
marked  the  bottom-lands  of  Morgan's  Creek.  With 
her  two  earlier  companions  my  fellow-traveller  had 
crossed  a  ford  here  shortly  after  sunset,  seeing  no  one ; 
but  a  guard  might  easily  have  been  put  here  since,  by 
the  Federals  in  Fayette.  Pretty  soon  the  road,  bend 
ing  toward  it,  led  us  down  between  two  fenced  fields 
and  we  stealthily  walked  our  horses.  Close  to  a  way 
side  tree  I  murmured  that  if  she  would  keep  my  horse 
I  would  steal  nearer  on  foot  and  reconnoitre,  and  I  had 
partly  risen  from  the  saddle,  when  I  was  thrilled  by 
the  pressure  of  her  hand  upon  mine  on  the  saddle-bow. 
"  Don't  commit  the  soldier's  deadliest  sin,  my  dear  Mr, 

61 


The  Cavalier 

Smith,"  she  said  under  her  breath,  and  smiled  at  my 
agitation ;  "  I  mean,  don't  lose  time." 

I  was  about  to  put  a  false  meaning  even  on  that,  when 
she  added  "  We  don't  need  the  ford  this  time  of  year; 
let  us  ride  back  as  if  we  gave  up  the  trip — for  there  may 
be  a  vidette  looking  at  us  now  in  the  edge  of  those 
bushes — and  as  soon  as  we  get  where  we  can't  be  seen 
let  us  take  a  circuit.  We  can  cross  the  creek  some 
where  above  and  strike  the  Wiggins  road  up  in  the 
woods.  You  can  find  your  way  by  the  blessed  stars, 
can't  you — being  the  angel  you  are?  " 

My  whole  nature  was  upheaved.  You  may  smile, 
but  my  plight  was  awful.  In  the  sultry  night  I  grew 
cold.  My  bridle-hand,  still  lying  under  her  palm, 
turned  and  folded  its  big  stupid  fingers  over  hers.  Then 
our  hands  slid  apart  and  we  rode  back.  "  I  wish  I 
were  good  enough  to  know  the  stars,"  she  said,  gazing 
up.  "Tell  me  some  of  them." 

I  told  them.  Two  or  three  times  my  voice  stuck  in 
my  throat,  I  found  the  sky  so  filled,  so  possessed,  by 
constellations  of  evil  name.  At  our  back  the  Dragon 
writhed  between  the  two  Bears;  over  us  hung  the 
Eagle,  and  in  the  south  were  the  Wolf,  the  Crow,  the 
Hydra,  the  Serpent — "Oh,  don't  tell  any  more,"  she 
exclaimed.  "  Or  rather—what  are  those  three  bright 
stars  yonder?  Why  do  you  skip  them  ?" 

"  Those?  That  one  is  the  Virgin's  sheaf;  and  those 
two  are  the  Balances." 

I  failed  to  catch  her  reply.  She  spoke  in  a  tone  of 
pain  and  sunk  her  face  in  her  hand.  "  Head  ache?  "  I 
asked. 

62 


An  Aching  Conscience 

"  No."  She  straightened,  and  from  under  her  coquet 
tish  hat  bent  upon  me  such  a  look  as  I  had  never  seen. 
In  her  eyes,  in  her  tightened  lips,  and  in  the  lift  of  her 
head,  was  a  whole  history  of  hope,  pride,  pain,  resolve, 
strife,  bafflement  and  defiance.  She  could  not  have 
chosen  to  betray  so  much;  she  must  have  counted  too 
fully  on  the  shade  of  her  hat-brim.  The  beautiful 
frown  relaxed  into  a  smile.  "  No,"  she  repeated,  "only 
an  aching  conscience.  Ever  have  one  ?  " 

I  averted  my  face  and  answered  with  a  nod. 

"  I  don't  believe  you!  I  don't  believe  you  ever  had 
cause  for  one !  "  She  laid  a  hand  again  upon  mine. 

I  covered  it  fiercely  and  sunk  my  brow  upon  it.  And 
thereupon  the  wave  of  folly  drew  back,  and  on  the 
bared  sands  of  recollection  I  saw,  like  drowned  things, 
my  mother's  face,  and  Gholson's  and  the  General's,  and 
Major  Harper's,  and  Ned  Ferry's,  and  Camille's.  Each 
in  turn  brought  its  separate  and  peculiar  pang;  and 
among  those  that  came  a  second  time  and  with  a  crueler 
pang  than  before  was  Camille's. 

"  You're  tired!  "  murmured  the  voice  beside  me,  and 
the  wave  rolled  in  again.  I  lifted  my  brow  and  moved 
one  hand  from  hers  to  make  room  on  it  for  my  lips, 
but  her  fingers  slipped  away  and  alighted  compassion 
ately  on  my  neck.  "  You  must  be  one  ache  from  head 
to  foot!  "  she  whispered. 

I  turned  upon  her  choking  with  anger,  but  her  melt 
ing  beauty  rendered  me  helpless.  Black  woods  were 
on  our  left.  "  Shall  we  turn  in  here?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes."  She  stooped  low  under  the  interlacing1 
boughs  and  plunged  with  me  into  the  double  darkness. 

63 


The  Cavalier 

XVII 

TWO   UNDER  ONE   HAT-BRIM 

"  Is  this  the  conservatory?  "  playfully  whispered  Miss 
Rothvelt ;  and  if  a  hot,  damp  air,  motionless,  and  heavy 
with  the  sleeping  breath  of  countless  growths  could 
make  it  so,  a  conservatory  it  was.  Every  slightest  turn 
had  to  be  alertly  chosen,  and  the  tangle  of  branches 
and  vines  made  going  by  the  stars  nearly  impossible. 
The  undergrowth  crowded  us  into  single  file.  We 
scarcely  exchanged  another  word  until  our  horses  came 
abreast  in  the  creek  and  stopped  to  drink.  Conditions 
beyond  were  much  the  same  until  near  the  end  of  our 
detour,  when  my  horse  swerved  abruptly  and  the  buzz 
of  a  rattlesnake  sounded  almost  under  foot.  The  mare 
swerved,  too,  and  hurried  forward  to  my  horse's  side. 

"  That  was  almost  an  adventure,  itself,"  laughingly 
murmured  my  companion,  as  if  adventures  were  what 
we  were  in  search  of.  While  she  spoke  we  came  out 
into  a  slender  road  and  turned  due  north.  "  Did  you," 
she  went  on,  childishly,  "  ever  take  a  snake  up  by  the 
tail,  in  your  thumb  and  finger,  and  watch  him  try  to 
double  on  himself  and  bite  you?  I  have,  it's  great  fun; 
makes  you  feel  so  creepy,  and  yet  you  know  you're 
safe!" 

She  laughed  under  her  breath  as  if  at  hide-and-seek. 
Then  we  galloped,  then  trotted  again,  galloped,  walked 
and  trotted  again.  Two  miles,  three,  four,  we  reckoned 
off,  and  slowed  to  a  walk  to  come  out  cautiously  upon 
the  Union  Church  and  Fayette  road.  A  sound  brought 

64 


Two  Under   One  Hat-Brim 

us  to  a  halt.  From  the  right,  out  on  the  main  road,  it 
came;  it  was  made  by  the  wheels  of  a  loaded  wagon. 
I  leaned  sidewise  until  her  hat-brim  was  over  me  and 
whispered  "  Yankee  foragers ;  *  but  as  I  drew  my  re 
volver  we  heard  voices,  I  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief,  and 
with  her  locks  touching  mine  we  chuckled  to  each  other 
in  the  dark.  The  passers  were  slaves  escaping  to  the 
Federal  camp. 

Now  they  came  into  view,  on  the  broader  road,  two 
whole  ragged  families  with  a  four-mule  team.  They 
passed  on.  And  then  all  at  once  the  whole  situation 
was  too  much  for  me.  In  the  joy  of  release  I  groped 
out  caressingly  and  touched  my  companion's  cheek. 
Whereat  she  took  my  ringers  and  drew  them  to  her 
lips — twice.  The  next  moment  I  found — we  found — 
my  lifted  wrists  in  the  slender  grasp  of  her  two  hands 
and  she  was  murmuring  incoherent  protests.  Suddenly 
she  grew  eloquent.  "  Oh,  think  what  you  are  and  have 
always  been!  Do  you  think  I  don't  know?  Do  you 
suppose  I  would  have  put  myself  into  this  situation,  or 
taken  the  liberties  I  have  taken  with  you,  if  I  had  not 
known  you,  and  known  you  well,  before  ever  I  saw 
you?  Ah!  I  have  heard  such  good  things  of  you!  and 
the  moment  I  saw  you  I  saw  they  were  true ! — Yes, — 
yes,  I  tell  you  they  were,  they  are !  And  I'm  not  going 
to  take  my  trust  away  from  you  now !  You  shall  keep 
my  trust  as  you  have  kept  all  others.  You  shall  be  as 
miserly  of  it  as  of  your  general's.  You  will  keep  it! " 
Her  whispers  grew  more  and  more  gentle.  "  My  dear 
friend,  my  dear  friend!  what  is  this  trust  compared  to 
the  trust  I  wish  I  might  lay  on  you?  " 

65 


The  Cavalier 

What  did  she  mean  by  that !  Had  she  some  schemer's 
use  for  me?  I  could  not  ask,  for  her  little  hands  had 
gradually  slipped  from  my  wrists  to  my  fingers  and 
were  softly,  torturingly  fondling  them.  Suddenly  she 
laughed  and  threw  her  hands  behind  her  back.  "  I'm 
blundering !  Oh,  Richard  Smith,  be  kind  to  a  woman's 
poor  wits,  and  let  me  say  to-morrow  that  I  know  one 
man  who  can  be  trusted — who  I  know  can  be  trusted — 
to  make  a  woman's  folly  her  protection.  Do  you  know, 
dear,  that  any  woman  who  can  say  that,  is  richer  than 
any  who  cannot?  And  I  am  but  a  woman,  sometimes 
a  bit  silly.  Trouble  is  I'm  a  live  one  and  a  whole  one ! 
— or  else  I'm  a  live  one  and  not  quite  a  whole  one — 
I  wonder  which  it  is!  " 

I  mumbled  something  about  never  wishing  to  tempt 
any  one. 

"  Oh,  you  haven't  tempted  me,"  she  replied,  with  kind 
amusement.  "  You  couldn't  if  you  should  try.  Your'e 
a  true  soldier,  with  a  true  soldier's  ideals;  and  I'm 
pledged  to  help  you  keep  them." 

" What  do  you  mean?"  I  demanded.  "To  whom 
are  you  pledged  for  any  such — " 

"Oh! — don't  you  wish  you  knew  !  Why,  to  myself, 
for  instance.  Come !  duty  calls." 

"Come!"  I  echoed.  We  swung  into  the  broader 
road  and  followed  the  contrabands. 

We  came  as  close  to  them  as  was  wise,  and  had  to 
walk  our  horses.  I  could  discern  Miss  Rothvelt's 
features  once  more,  and  felt  a  truer  deference  than  I 
had  yet  given  her.  Near  the  blacksmith's  shop,  in  the 
dusk  of  some  shade-trees,  she  once  more  touched  my 

66 


Two  Under  One  Hat-Brim 

shoulder.  I  turned  resentfully  to  bid  her  not  do  it, 
but  her  shadowy  gaze  stopped  me. 

"  Don't  be  moody/'  she  said ;  "  the  whole  mistake 
is  four-fifths  mine.  And  anyhow,  repining  is  only  a 
counterfeit  repentance,  you  know.  Come,  I  don't  want 
to  tease  you.  It's  only  myself  I  love  to  torment.  I'm 
the  snake  I  like  to  hold  up  by  the  tail.  Did  you  never 
have  some  dull,  incessant  ache  that  seemed  to  pain 
less  when  you  pressed  hard  on  it  ?  "  She  laughed,  left 
me  and  rode  into  the  cottage  gate. 

What  do  you  say? — Yes,  she  might  have  spoken 
more  wisely.  Yet  always  there  vibrated  in  her  voice 
a  wealth  of  thought,  now  bitter,  now  sweet,  and  often 
both  at  once,  and  a  splendor  of  emotions,  beyond  the 
scope  of  all  ordinary  natures.  How  far  beyond  my 
own  scope  they  were,  even  with  my  passions  at  flood- 
tide  and  turbid  as  a  back-street  overflow,  I  failed  to 
ponder  while  I  passed  around  the  paling  fence  alone. 

In  the  edge  of  the  woods  at  the  rear  of  this  enclosure 
I  found  the  road  that  led  into  Cole's  Creek  bottom,  and 
there  turned  and  waited.  A  corner  of  the  cottage  was 
still  in  view  among  its  cedars  and  china-trees.  In  an 
intervening  melon-patch  blinked  the  yellow  lamps  of 
countless  fireflies.  And  now  there  came  the  ghost  of  a 
sound  frem  beyond  the  patch,  then  a  glimpse  of  dra 
pery,  and  I  beheld  again  the  subject  of  my  thoughts. 
Such  thoughts !  Ah !  why  had  I  neither  modesty,  wit 
nor  charity  enough  to  see  that  yonder  came  a  woman 
whose  heart  beat  only  more  strongly  than  the  hearts  of 
all  the  common  run  of  us,  with  impulses  both  kind  and 
high,  although  society,  by  the  pure  defects  of  its  awk- 


The  Cavalier 

ward  machinery,  had  incurably  mutilated  her  fate;  a 
woman  wrestling  with  a  deep-founded  love  that,  held  by 
her  at  arm's  length,  yielded  only  humiliations  and  by  its 
torments  kept  her  half  ripe  for  any  sudden  treason  even 
against  that  love  itself. 

She  came  without  her  horse,  pointing  eagerly  at  the 
brightness  of  the  sky  above  the  unrisen  moon.  "  Di 
ana!"  she  whispered,  and  tossed  a  kiss  toward  it. 
"  You  saw  me  put  the  mare  into  the  stable  and  go  into 
the  house  by  the  back  door?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  and  handed  her,  as  I  dismounted,  the 
General's  gift,  the  pass. 

She  snatched  it  gaily,  loosed  a  fastening  at  her  throat 
and  dropped  the  missive  into  her  bosom.  Then  with 
passionate  gravity  she  asked,  "  Now,  are  you  going 
straight  on  to  Clifton  to-night — without  stopping  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  been  ordered  to  tell  any  one  where  I'm 
going." 

"  Neither  was  Lieutenant  Ferry,"  she  dryly  respond 
ed,  "  yet  I  have  it  from  him." 

"He  told  you? — Ah!  you're  only  guessing,"  I  said, 
and  saw  that  I  was  helping  her  to  guess  more  cor 
rectly. 

"  Pooh !  "  she  replied,  ever  so  prettily,  "  do  you  sup 
pose  I  don't  know?  Ferry's  scouts  are  at  Clifton,  and 
you've  got  a  despatch  for  Lieutenant — eh, — Durand — 
hem !  "  She  posed  playfully.  "  Now,  tell  me ;  you're 
not  to  report  to  him  till  daylight,  are  you?  Then  why 
need  you  hurry  on  now?  This  house  where  I  am  is  the 
only  safe  place  for  you  to  sleep  in  between  here  and 
Clifton.  I'll  wake  you,  myself,  in  good  time." 

68 


Two  Under  One  Hat-Brim 

My  heart  pounded  and  rose  in  my  throat,  yet  I  man 
aged  to  say,  "  My  orders  are  plain."  I  flinched  visibly, 
for  again  I  had  told  too  much.  I  pretended  to  listen 
toward  the  depths  of  the  wood. 

She  struck  a  mock-sentimental  attitude  and  mur 
mured  musically — 

"  '  The  beating  of  our  own  hearts 
Was  all  the  sound  we  heard/ 

Yes," — she  put  away  gaiety — "  your  orders  are  plain ; 
and  they're  as  cruel  as  they  are  plain!  " 

"  Cruel  to  you?  "  I  took  her  hand  from  my  arm  and 
held  it. 

"  Oh !  cruel  to  you,  Richard,  dear ;  to  you !  And — 
yes ! — yes  ! — I'll  confess.  I'll  confess — if  only  you'll  do 
as  I  beg!  Yes,  ah  yes,  cruel  to  me!  But  don't  ask 
how,  and  we'll  see  if  you  are  man  enough  to  keep  a  real 
woman's  real  secret !  And  first,  promise  me  not  to  put 
up  at  that  house  which  the  General  and  Lieutenant 
Ferry—" 

"  Lieutenant  Ferry  is  not  sending  me  to  any  house." 

"  Pardon  me,  I  know  better.  This  is  his  scheme." 
She  laid  her  free  hand  on  our  two.  "  Tell  me  you  will 
not  go  to  that  house!  " 

I  attempted  an  evasion.  "  Oh — a  blanket  on  the 
ground — face  covered  up  in  it  from  the  mosquitos — is 
really—" 

"  Right ! "  She  laughed.  "  I  wish  a  woman  could 
choose  that  way.  Oh !  if  you'll  do  that  I'll  go  with  you 
and  stand  guard  over  you !  " 

Dolt  that  I  was,  I  would  have  drawn  her  close,  but 

69 


The  Cavalier 

she  put  me  off  with  an  outstretched  arm  and  forbidden 
smile.  "  No ! — No !  this  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death." 

I  stepped  back,  heaving.  "  Who  and  what  are  you  ? 
Who  and  what  are  you?  " 

"  Why,  who  and  what  should  I  be?  " 

"Charlotte  Oliver!" 

"  Hmm ;  Charlotte  Oliver.  Are  you  sure  you  have 
the  name  just  right?  " 

"  Why  haven't  I  got  it  right?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  doubt  you  have ;  though  I  didn't  know 
but  it  might  be  Charlie  Toliver  or  something." 

I  dilated.  "  Who  told— did  Ned  Ferry  tell  you  that 
story?" 

"  He  did.  Or,  to  be  accurate,  Lieutenant  Ferry-Du- 
rand.  My  dear  Richard,  we  cannot  be  witty  and  re 
main  un-talked-about." 

"  I— I  believe  it  yet!    You  are  Charlotte  Oliver!  " 

She  became  frigid.  "  Do  you  know  who  and  what 
Charlotte  Oliver  is? — No?  Well,  to  begin  with,  she's  a 
married  woman — but  pshaw!  you  believe  nothing  till 
it's  proved.  If  I  tell  you  who  and  what  I  am  will  you  do 
what  I've  asked  you;  will  you  promise  not  to  stop  at 
Lucius  Oliver's  house?  "  She  softly  reached  for  my 
hand  and  pressed  and  stroked  it.  "  Don't  stop  there, 
dear.  Oh,  say  you  will  not !  " 

"Is  it  so  dangerous?" 

"  General  Austin  believes  it  is.  You're  being  used  to 
bait  a  trap,  Richard." 

I  laughed  a  gay  disdain.  "Who  is  Lucius;  is  he 
Charlotte's  husband?  " 

The  reply  came  slowly.  "  No ;  her  husband  is  quite 
70 


Two  Under  One  Hat-Brim 

another  man ;  this  man's  wife  has  been  dead  for  years. 
No,  Charlotte  Oliver  lives  in— hark!  " 

The  sound  we  had  heard  was  only  some  stir  of  nature 
in  her  sleep.  "  I  must  go,"  I  said. 

"  Oh,  no,  no !  I  cannot  let  you !  "  She  clutched  the 
hand  she  had  been  stroking. 

"  Coralie!  Coralie  Rothvelt!  " — my  cry  was  an  hon 
est  one — "  you  tempt  me  beyond  human  endurance." 

She  threw  my  hand  from  her.  "  I  know  I  do !  I'm 
so  unworthy  to  do  it  that  I  wouldn't  have  believed  I 
could.  You  thought  I  was  Charlotte  Oliver — Heavens! 
boy,  if  you  should  breathe  the  atmosphere  Charlotte 
Oliver  has  to  live  in!  But  understand  again,  for  your 
soul's  comfort,  you  haven't  tempted  me.  Go,  if  you 
must ;  go,  take  your  chances ;  and  if  you're  spared  ever 
to  see  your  dear,  dear  little  mother — " 

"  My  mother!    Do  you  know  my  mother?  " 
"  Tell  her  I  tried  to  keep  my  promise  to  her." 
"  You  promised  her — what  did  you  promise  her?  " 
"  Only  to  take  care  of  you  whenever  I  had  the  chance. 
Go,  now,  you  must !  " 

"  And  was  care  for  me  your  only  motive  in — " 
"  No,  no,  Richard,  I  wanted,  and  I  still  want,  you 
to  take  care  of  me!    But  go,  now,  go!  at  once  or  not 
at  all!    Good-bye!  "    She  laughed  and  fluttered  away. 
I  sprang  upon  my  horse  and  sped  into  the  forest. 

Another  mile,  another  half;  then  my  horror  and  dis 
may  broke  into  gesture  and  speech,  and  over  and  over 
I  reviled  myself  as  a  fool,  a  traitorous  fool,  to  be  fooled 
into  confession  of  my  errand!  I  moaned  with  physical 
pain ;  every  fatigue  of  tb^  long  day  now  levied  payment, 

71 


The  Cavalier 

and  my  back,  knees,  shoulders,  ached  cruelly.  But 
my  heart  ached  most,  and  I  bowed  in  the  saddle  and 
cried — 

"  What  have  I  done,  oh,  what  have  I  done  ?  My  se 
cret!  my  general's,  my  country's  secret!  That  woman 
has  got  it — bought  it  with  flatteries  and  lies!  She  has 
drawn  it  from  my  befouled  soul  like  a  charge  from  a 
gun!" 

For  a  moment  I  quite  forgoc  how  evident  it  was  that 
she  had  gathered  earlier  inklings  of  it  from  some  one 
else.  Suddenly  my  thought  was  of  something  far  more 
startling.  It  stopped  my  breath;  I  halted;  I  held  my 
temples;  I  stared.  What  would  she  do  with  a  secret 
she  had  taken  such  hazards  to  extort?  Ah!  she'd 
carry  it  straight  to  market — why  not  ?  She  would  give 
it  to  the  enemy!  Before  my  closed  eyes  came  a  vision 
of  the  issue — disaster  to  our  arms ;  bleeding,  maiming, 
death,  and  widows'  and  orphans'  tears. 

"  My  God !  she  shall  not !  "  I  cried,  and  whirled  about 
and  galloped  back. 

At  the  edge  of  the  wood,  where  we  had  parted,  I  tied 
my  horse,  and  crept  along  the  moonlight  shadows  of  the 
melon-patch  to  the  stable.  The  door  was  ajar.  In  the 
interior  gloom  I  passed  my  hands  over  the  necks  and 
heads  of  what  I  recognized  to  be  the  pair  of  small  mules 
I  had  seen  at  Gallatin.  Near  a  third  stall  were  pegs  for 
saddle  and  bridle,  but  they  were  empty.  So  was  the 
stall;  the  mare  was  gone. 

"  Gone  to  the  Yankees  at  Fayette!  "  I  moaned,  and 
hurried  back  to  my  horse.  To  attempt  to  overtake  one 
within  those  few  miles  would  only  make  failure  corn- 

72 


The  Jayhawkers 


plete,  and  I  scurried  once  more  into  the  north  with 
such  a  burden  of  alarm  and  anguish  as  I  had  never 
before  known. 

XVIII 

THE  JAYHAWKERS 

IT  was  well  that  I  was  on  the  Federal  captain's 
horse.  He  knew  this  sort  of  work  and  could  do  it 
quicker  and  more  quietly  than  mine.  Mine  would  have 
whinnied  for  the  camp  and  watched  for  short  cuts  to 
it.  Another  advantage  was  the  moon,  and  the  hour 
was  hardly  beyond  midnight  when  I  saw  a  light  in 
a  window  and  heard  the  scraping  of  a  fiddle.  At  the 
edge  of  a  clearing  enclosed  by  a  worm  fence  I  came 
to  a  row  of  slave-cabins.  Mongrel  dogs  barked 
through  the  fence,  and  in  one  angle  of  it  a  young  white 
man  with  long  straight  hair  showed  himself  so  ab 
ruptly  as  to  startle  my  horse.  Only  the  one  cabin  was 
lighted,  and  thence  came  the  rhythmic  shuffle  of  bare 
footed  dancers  while  the  fiddle  played  "  I  lay  ten  dol 
lars  down."  There  were  three  couples  on  the  floor, 
and  I  saw — for  the  excited  dogs  had  pushed  the  door 
open — that  two  of  the  men  were  white,  though  but 
one  wore  shoes.  On  him  the  light  fell  revealingly  as 
he  and  the  yellow  girl  before  him  passed  each  other  in 
the  dance  and  faced  again.  He  was  decidedly  blond. 
The  other  man,  though  silhouetted  against  the  glare  of 
burning  pine-knots,  I  knew  to  be  white  by  the  flapping 
of  his  lank  locks  about  his  cheeks  as  he  lent  his  eyes 
to  the  improvisation  of  his  steps.  His  partner  was  a 

73 


The  Cavalier 

young  black  girl.  I  burned  with  scorn,  and  doubtless 
showed  it,  although  I  only  asked  whose  plantation  this 
was. 

"  This-yeh  pla-ace  ?  "  The  rustic  dragged  his  words 
lazily,  chewed  tobacco  with  his  whole  face,  and  looked 
my  uniform  over  from  cap  to  spur.  "  They  say  this- 
yeh  place  belong  to  a  man  which  his  name  Lu-ucius 
Ol-i-veh." 

So !  I  honestly  wished  myself  back  in  my  old  rags, 
until  I  reflected  that  my  handsome  mount  was  enough 
to  get  me  all  the  damage  these  wretches  could  offer. 
Still  I  thought  it  safest  to  show  an  overbearing  frown. 

"  To  what  command  do  you  fellows  belong  ?  " 

He  spurted  a  pint  to  reply,  "  Fishe's  batt'ry." 

"Oh!    And  where  is  the  battery?" 

"You  sa-ay  '  Whah  is  it?'  — ow  batt'ry"  — he 
champed  noisily — "  I  dunno.  Does  you  ?  Whah  is 
it?" 

"  It's  twenty  miles  off ;  why  are  you  not  with  it  ? 
What  are  you  doing  here  ?  " 

"  You  sa-ay  '  What  we  a-doin'  hyuh?  '  Well,  suh, 
I  mought  sa-ay  we  ain't  a-doin'  nuth'n' ;  but  I " — 
he  squirted  again — "  will  sa-ay  that  so  fah  as  you 
see  what  we  a-doin',  you  kin  see,  an'  welcome ;  an'  so 
fah  as  you  don't  see,  it  ain't  none  o'  yo'  damn'  busi- 
ness."  ' 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,  I  was  only  asking  a  friendly 
question." 

"  Yaas ;  well,  that's  all  right,  too,  suh ;  I  uz  on'y 
a-givin'  you  a  frien'ly  aynsweh.  I  hope  you  like  it." 

Qur  intercourse  became  more  amiable  and  the  fel- 
74, 


The  Jayhawkers 


low  dragged  in  his  advice  that  I  spend  the  rest  of 
the  night  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Oliver.  His  acquaint 
ance  with  that  gentleman  seemed  to  grow  while  we 
talked,  and  broke  into  bloom  like  a  magician's  rose 
bush.  He  described  him  as  a  kind  old  bird  who  made 
hospitality  to  strangers  his  meat  and  drink.  A  con 
jecture  darted  into  my  mind.  "  Why,  yes !  that  is 
his  married  son,  is  he  not,  yonder  in  the  cabin;  the 
one  with  the  fair  hair  ?  " 

"  Who  ? — eh, — ole  man  Ol-i-veh  ?  You  sa — ay  '  Is 
that  his  ma'-ied  sen,  in  yondeh;  the  one  'ith  the  fah 
hah  ?  ' — Eh, — no — o,  suh, — eh, — yass,  suh, — yass !  Oh, 
yass,  suh,  thass  his — tha' — thass  his  ma'ied  son,  in 
thah ;  yass,  suh,  the  one  'ith  the  fah  hah ;  yass,  suh.  I 
thought  you  meant  the  yetheh  one." 

"  I  don't  believe,"  said  I,  "  I'd  better  put  myself 
on  the  old  gentleman  when  the  mistress  of  the  house 
is  away." 

"  She  ain't  awa-ay." 

"  Is  she  not !  Isn't  she  the  Mrs.  Oliver — Charlotte 
Oliver — who  is  such  friends — she  and  her  husband,  I 
mean,  of  course, — " 

"  Uv  co'se ! "  The  reptile  giggled,  squirted  and 
nodded. 

"  —With  General  Austin,"  I  continued,  "  —and  with 
Lieutenant  Ferry  ?  " 

"  She  air !  "  He  was  pleased.  "  Yass,  we  all  good 
frien's  togetheh." 

"  But  if  she — oh,  yes ! — Yes,  to  be  sure ;  she  could 
easily  have  got  here  yesterday  afternoon." 

"  Thass  thess  when  she  arrove !  "  It  was  fascinat- 
75 


The  Cavalier 

ing  to  watch  the  animal's  cunning  play  across  his  face. 
The  fiddle's  tune  changed  and  the  dance  quickened. 

"I  naturally  thought,"  resumed  I,  with  a  smile  meant 
to  refer  to  the  blond  dancer,  "that  the  madam  must 
be  away  somewhere." 

My  hearer  grinned.  "  Oh,  that  ain't  no  sign.  Boys 
will  be  boys.  You  know  that,  yo'se'f.  An'  o'  co'se  she 
know  it.  Oh,  yass,  she  at  home." 

"  Well,  I  reckon  I'll  stop  all  night."  I  began  to 
move  on.  His  eyes  followed  greedily. 

"  Sa-ay !  I'll  wrastle  you  fo'  them-ah  clo'es." 

I  waved  a  pleasant  refusal  and  rode  toward  the 
house. 

XIX 

ASLEEP  IN  THE  DEATH-TRAP 

THE  dwelling  was  entirely  dark.  I  came  close  in 
the  bright  moonlight  and  hallooed.  At  my  second  hail 
the  door  came  a  small  way  open,  and  after  a  brief  parley 
a  man's  voice  bade  me  put  up  my  horse  and  come  in. 
The  stable  was  a  few  steps  to  the  right  and  rear.  Re 
turning,  I  took  care  to  notice  the  form  of  the  house : 
a  hall  from  front  to  rear ;  one  front  and  one  rear  room 
on  each  side  of  it ;  above  the  whole  a  low  attic,  prob 
ably  occupied  by  the  slave  housemaids. 

I  was  met  in  the  bare  unpainted  hall  by  a  dropsical 
man  of  nearly  sixty,  holding  a  dim  candle,  a  wax-myr 
tle  dip  wrapped  on  a  corncob.  He  had  a  retreating 
chin,  a  throat-latch  beard  and  a  roving  eye;  stepped 
with  one  foot  and  slid  with  the  other,  spoke  in  a  de- 

76 


Asleep  in  the  Death-Trap 

jected  voice,  and  had  very  poor  use  of  his  right  hand. 
I  followed  him  to  the  rear  corner  chamber,  the  one 
nearest  the  stable,  feeling  that,  poor  as  the  choice  was, 
I  should  rather  have  him  for  my  robber  and  murderer 
than  those  villains  down  at  the  quarters.  I  detained 
him  in  conversation  while  I  drew  off  my  boots  and 
threw  my  jacket  upon  the  back  of  a  chair  in  such  a 
way  as  to  let  my  despatch  be  seen.  The  toss  was  a 
lucky  one;  the  document,  sealed  with  red  wax,  stuck 
out  arrogantly  from  an  inside  pocket.  Then,  asking 
lively  questions  the  while  as  if  to  conceal  a  blunder 
and  its  correction,  I  moved  quickly  between  him  and 
it  and  slipped  the  missive  under  a  pillow  of  the  four- 
post  bedstead. 

He  was  not  wordy,  and  he  tarried  but  a  moment, 
yet  he  explained  his  paralysis.  In  the  dreary  mono 
tone  of  a  chronic  sour  temper  he  related  that  some 
Confederates,  about  a  year  before,  had  come  here  im 
pressing  horses,  and  their  officer,  on  being  called  by 
him  "  no  gentleman,"  had  struck  him  behind  the  ear 
with  the  butt  of  a  carbine.  I  asked  what  punishment 
the  officer  received,  and  I  noticed  the  plural  pronoun 
as  he  icily  replied,  "  We  didn't  enter  any  complaint." 

I  said  with  genuine  warmth  that  if  he  would  give 
me  that  man's  name — etc. 

He  waited  on  the  threshold  with  his  dropsical  back 
to  me  for  my  last  word,  and  then,  still  in  the  same 
attitude,  droned,  "  O-oh,  he's  dead.  And  anyhow," 
he  finished  out  of  sight  in  the  hall,  "  that's  not  our  way." 

I  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  in  the  moonlight,  wish 
ing  I  knew  what  their  way  was.  I  considered  my 

77 


The  Cavalier 

small  stock  of  facts.  The  one  that  appalled  me  most 
was  the  inward  guilt  which  I  brought  with  me  to  this 
ordeal.  I  wanted  to  say  my  childhood  prayers  and  I 
could  not.  For  I  could  not  repent;  at  least  the  emo 
tion  of  repentance  would  not  come.  Moreover,  every 
now  and  then  there  leapt  across  this  blackness  of  guilt 
a  forked  lightning  of  fright,  as  I  realized  that  I  could 
no  more  plan  than  I  could  pray.  No  doubt  Coral ie 
Rothvelt,  by  this  time  in  Fayette,  was  telling  some 
Federal  commander  that  a  certain  Confederate  courier, 
now  asleep  at  the  house  of  Lucius  Oliver,  had  let  slip 
to  her  the  fact  that  his  despatches  were  written  to  be 
captured,  and  that,  read  with  that  knowledge,  they 
would  be  of  guiding  value.  What  mine  host  himself 
might  have  in  view  for  me  I  could  not  guess,  but  most 
likely  those  three  rapscallions  down  at  the  quarters 
were  already  plotting  my  murder.  So  now  for  a  coun 
terplot — alas!  the  counterplot  would  not  unfold  for 
me! 

I  rallied  all  my  wits.  Here  was  an  open  window. 
Through  it  the  moonlight  poured  in  upon  the  lower 
half  of  the  bed.  If  I  should  lie  with  my  eyes  in  the 
shadow  of  the  headboard  no  one  entering  by  the  door 
opposite  could  see  that  I  was  looking.  Good!  but 
what  to  do  when  the  time  should  come — ah  me! — and 
"  Oh,  God !  "  and  "  Oh,  God !  "  again.  Ought  I,  now, 
to  let  the  enemy  get  the  despatch,  or  must  I  not  rather 
keep  it  from  him  at  whatever  risk  of  death  or  dis 
grace?  Ah!  if  I  might  only  fight,  and  let  the  out 
come  decide  for  me!  And  why  not?  Yes,  I  would 
fight!  And  oh!  how  I  would  fight!  If  by  fighting 

78 


Charlotte  Oliver 

too  well  I  should  keep  the  despatch,  why,  that,  as  mat 
ters  now  stood,  was  likely  to  be  the  very  best  for  my 
country's  cause.  On  the  other  hand,  should  I  fight 
till  I  fell  dead  or  senseless  and  only  then  lose  it,  surely 
then  it  would  be  counted  genuine  and  retain  all  its 
value  to  mislead-  Oh,  yes, — I  could  contrive  nothing 
better — I  would  fight ! 

I  drew  the  counterpane  aside,  lay  down  under  it  re 
volver  in  hand,  and  then,  for  the  first  time  since  I 
had  put  on  the  glorious  gray,  found  I  could  not  face 
the  thought  of  death.  I  grew  steadily,  penetratingly, 
excruciatingly  cold,  and  presently — to  the  singular  sat 
isfaction  of  my  conscience — began  to  shake  from  head 
to  foot  with  a  nervous  chill.  It  was  agonizing,  but  it 
was  so  much  better  than  the  spiritual  chill  of  which  it 
took  the  place!  I  felt  as  though  I  should  never  be 
warm  again.  Yet  the  attack  slowly  passed  away,  and 
with  my  finger  once  more  close  to  the  trigger,  I  lay 
trying  to  use  my  brain,  when,  without  prayer  or  plan, 
I  solved  the  riddle,  what  I  should  do,  by  doing  the 
only  thing  I  knew  I  ought  not  to  do.  I  slept. 

XX 

CHARL01TE  OLIVER 

AN  envelope  sealed  with  sealing-wax,  unless  it  has 
also  a  wrapping  of  twine  or  tape  whose  only  knot  is 
under  the  seal,  can  be  opened  without  breaking  the 
seal.  Gholson  had  once  told  me  this.  Hold  a  thin, 
sharp  knife-blade  to  the  spout  of  a  boiling  tea-kettle; 

79 


The  Cavalier 

then  press  the  blade's  edge  under  the  edge  of  the  seal. 
Repeat  this  operation  many  times.  The  wax  will  yield 
but  a  hair's-breadth  each  time,  but  a  hair's-breadth 
counts,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  seal  will  be  lifted  en 
tire.  A  touch  of  glue  or  paste  will  fasten  it  down 
again,  and  a  seal  so  tampered  with  need  betray  the 
fact  only  to  an  eye  already  suspicious. 

As  I  say,  I  slept.  The  door  between  me  and  the  hall 
had  a  lock,  but  no  key ;  another  door,  letting  from  my 
room  to  the  room  in  front  of  it,  had  no  lock,  but  was 
bolted.  I  slept  heavily  and  for  an  hour  or  more.  Then 
I  was  aware  of  something  being  moved — slowly — slyly 
— by  littles — under  my  pillow.  The  pillow  was  in  a 
case  of  new  unbleached  cotton.  When  I  first  lay  down, 
the  cotton  had  so  smelt  of  its  newness  that  I  thought 
it  was  enough,  of  itself,  to  keep  me  awake.  Now  this 
odor  was  veiled  by  another ;  a  delicate  perfume ;  a  per 
fume  I  knew,  and  which  brought  again  to  me  all  the 
incidents  of  the  night,  and  all  their  woe.  I  looked, 
and  there,  so  close  to  the  bedside  that  she  could  see  my 
eyes  as  plainly  as  I  saw  hers,  stood  Coralie  Rothvelt. 
In  the  door  that  opened  into  the  hall  were  two  young 
officers,  staff  swells,  in  the  handsomest  Federal  blue. 
The  moonlight  lay  in  a  broad  flood  between  them  and 
me.  It  silvered  Miss  Rothvelt  from  the  crown  of  her 
hat  to  the  floor,  and  brightened  the  earnest  animation 
of  her  lovely  face  as  she  daintily  tiptoed  backward 
with  one  hand  delicately  poised  in  the  air  behind  her, 
and  the  other  still  in  the  last  pose  of  withdrawing  from 
under  the  pillow — empty ! 

My  problem  was  indeed  simplified.  The  despatch 
80 


Charlotte  Oliver 

had  been  stolen,  opened,  read,  re-sealed  and  returned. 
All  I  now  had  to  do  was  to  lie  here  till  daybreak  and 
then  get  away  if  I  could,  deliver  the  despatch  to  Ned 
Ferry,  and  tell  him — ah!  what? — how  much?  Oh, 
my  bemired  soul,  how  much  must  I  tell?  My  shame 
I  might  bear ;  I  might  wash  it  out  in  blood  at  the  bat 
tle's  front ;  but  my  perfidy !  how  much  was  it  perfidy 
to  withhold ;  how  much  was  it  perfidy  to  confess  ? 

The  heaviness  of  my  soul,  by  reacting  upon  my 
frame  and  counterfeiting  sleep  better  than  I  could  have 
done  it  in  cold  blood,  saved  me,  I  fancy,  from  death 
or  a  northern  prison.  When  I  guessed  my  three  visi 
tors  were  gone  I  stirred,  as  in  slumber,  a  trifle  nearer 
the  window,  and  for  some  minutes  lay  with  my  face 
half  buried  in  the  pillow.  So  lying,  there  stole  to 
my  ear  a  footfall.  My  finger  felt  the  trigger,  my  lids 
lifted  alertly,  and  as  alertly  reclosed.  Outside  the 
window  one  of  the  officers,  rising  by  some  slender  foot 
hold,  had  been  looking  in  upon  me,  and  in  sinking 
down  again  and  turning  away  had  snapped  a  twig. 
He  glanced  back  just  as  I  opened  my  eyes,  but  once 
more  my  head  was  in  shadow  and  the  moonlight  be 
tween  us.  When  I  peeped  again  he  was  moving  away. 

Five,  ten,  fifteen  minutes  dragged  by.  Counting 
them  helped  me  to  lie  still.  Then  I  caught  another 
pregnant  sound,  a  mumbling  of  male  voices  in  the  ad 
joining  front  room.  I  waited  a  bit,  hearkening  labor 
iously,  and  then  ever  so  gradually  I  slid  from  the  bed, 
put  on  everything  except  my  boots,  and  moved  by 
inches  to  the  door  between  the  two  rooms.  It  was 
very  thin ;  "  a  good  sounding-board,"  thought  I  as  I 

81 


The  Cavalier 

listened  for  life  or  death  and  hoped  my  ear  was  the 
only  one  against  it. 

The  discussion  warmed  and  I  began  to  catch  words 
and  meanings.  Oftenest  they  were  old  Lucius  Oliver's, 
whose  bad  temper  made  him  incautious.  While  his  son 
and  the  other  two  jayhawkers  obstinately  pressed  their 
-scheme  he  kept  saying,  sourly,  "  That's — not — our — 
wa-ay ! " 

At  length  he  lost  all  prudence.  "  Nn — o ! — Nnno — o, 
sir!  Not  in  this  house  you  don't;  and  not  on  this 
place!  Wait  till  he's  off  my  land;  I'm  not  goin'  to 
have  the  infernal  rebels  a-turpentinin'  my  house  and 
a-burnin'  it  over  my  head.  What  air  you  three  skunks 
in  such  a  sweat  to  git  found  out  for,  like  a  pack  o' 
daymn'  fools!  I've  swone  to  heaven  and  hell  to  git 
even  ef  revenge  can  ever  git  me  even,  and  this  ain't 
the  way  to  git  even.  It's  not — our — wa-ay !  " 

His  son's  attitude  exasperated  him.  "  You  know 
this  ain't  ever  been  our  way;  you'd  say  so,  yourself, 
ef  you  wa'n't  skin  full  o'  china-ball  whiskey !  What  in 
all  hell  is  the  reason  we  can't  do  him  as  we've  always 
done  the  others  ?  " 

"  Oh,  shut  your  dirty  face !  "  replied  the  son,  while 
one  of  his  cronies  warned  both  against  being  overheard. 
But  when  this  one  added  something  further  the  old 
man  snarled : 

"What's  that  about  the  horse?— The  horse  might 
git  away  and  be  evidence  ag'inst  us? — What? — Oh, 
now  give  the  true  reason;  you  want  the  horse,  that's 
all!  You  two  lickskillets  air  in  this  thing  pyo'ly  for 
the  stealin's.  Me  and  my  son  ain't  bushwhackers, 

82 


Charlotte  Oliver 

we're  gentlemen !  At  least  I'm  one.  Our  game's  re 
venge  ! " 

Not  because  of  this  speech,  but  of  a  soft  rubbing 
sound  on  the  window-sill  behind  me,  my  heart  turned 
cold.  Yet  there  I  saw  a  most  welcome  sight.  Against 
the  outer  edge  of  the  sill  an  unseen  hand  was  moving 
a  forked  stick  to  and  fro.  The  tip  of  one  of  its  tines 
was  slit,  in  the  slit  was  a  white  paper,  and  in  the  fork 
hung  the  bridle  of  my  horse.  I  glided  to  the  window. 
But  there  bethinking  me  how  many  a  man  had  put  his 
head  out  at  just  such  a  place  and  never  got  it  back, 
I  made  a  long  sidewise  reach,  secured  the  paper,  and 
read  it. 

It  was  the  envelope  which  had  contained  Coralie 
Rothvelt's  pass.  Its  four  flaps  were  spread  open,  and 
on  the  inside  was  scrawled  in  a  large  black  writing  the 
following : 

Yankees  gone,  completely  fooled.  Do  not  stir  till 
day,  then  ride  for  your  life.  We're  not  thwarting  Lieu 
tenant  Ferry's  plan,  we're  only  improving  upon  it. 
When  you  report  to  him  don't  let  blame  fall  upon  the 
father  and  son  whose  roof  this  night  saves  you  from 
a  bloody  death.  Do  this  for  the  sake  of  her  who  is  risk 
ing  her  life  to  save  yours.  We  serve  one  cause;  be 
wary — be  brave — be  true. 

I  stood  equally  amazed  and  alert.  The  voices  still 
growled  in  the  next  room,  and  my  horse's  bridle  still 
hung  before  the  window.  I  peered  out;  there  stood 
the  priceless  beast.  I  came  a  sly  step  nearer,  and  lo! 
in  his  shadow,  flattened  against  the  house,  face  out 
ward,  was  Coralie  Rothvelt  comically  holding  the 

83 


The  Cavalier 

forked  stick  at  a  present-arms.  Throbbing  with  a 
grateful,  craving  allegiance,  I  seized  the  rein.  Then 
I  bent  low  out  the  window  and  with  my  free  hand 
touched  her  face  as  it  turned  upward  into  a  beam  of 
moonlight.  She  pressed  my  ringers  to  her  lips,  and 
then  let  me  draw  her  hand  as  far  as  it  could  come 
and  cover  it  with  kisses.  Then  she  drew  me  down 
and  whispered  "You'll  do  what  I've  asked?" 

When  I  said  I  would  try  she  looked  distressfully  un 
assured  and  I  added  "  I'll  do  whatever  risks  no  life 
but  mine." 

Her  face  spoke  passionate  thanks.  "  That's  all  I  can 
ask !  "  she  said,  whispered  "  When  you  go — keep  the 
plain  road" — and  vanished. 

I  sat  by  the  window,  capped,  booted,  belted,  my 
bridle  in  one  hand,  revolver  in  the  other.  In  all  the 
house,  now,  there  was  no  sound,  and  without  there 
was  a  stillness  only  more  vast.  I  could  not  tell  whether 
certain  sensations  in  my  ear  were  given  by  insects  in 
the  grass  and  trees  or  merely  by  my  overwrought 
nerves  and  tired  neck.  The  moon  sailed  high,  the  air 
was  at  last  comfortably  cool,  my  horse  stood  and  slept. 
I  thought  it  must  be  half -past  two. 

"  Now  it  must  be  three."  Miss  Rothvelt's  writing 
lay  in  my  bosom  beside  my  despatch.  At  each  half- 
hour  I  re-read  it.  At  three-and-a-half  I  happened  to 
glance  at  the  original  superscription.  A  thought  flashed 
upon  me.  I  stared  at  her  name,  and  began  to  mark  off 
its  letters  one  by  one  and  to  arrange  them  in  a  new 
order.  I  took  C  from  Coralie  and  h  from  Rothvelt; 
after  them  I  wrote  a  from  Coralie  and  r  from  Roth- 

84 


Charlotte  Oliver 

velt,  1  and  o  from  Coralie  and  two  t's  and  an  e  from 
Rothvelt,  and  behold,  Charlotte!  while  the  remaining 
letters  gave  me  Oliver. 

Ah !  where  had  my  wits  been  ?  Yet  without  a  sus 
picion  that  she  was  Charlotte  Oliver  one  might  have 
let  the  anagram  go  unsuspected  for  a  lifetime.  Evi 
dently  it  concealed  nothing  from  General  Austin  or 
Ned  Ferry ;  most  likely  it  was  only  the  name  she  used 
in  passing  through  the  lines.  At  any  rate  I  was  con 
vinced  she  was  a  good  Confederate,  and  my  heart  rose. 

But  why,  then,  this  ardent  zeal  to  save  the  necks  of 
the  two  traitors  "  whose  roof  this  night — "  etc.  ? 
Manifestly  she  was  moved  by  passion,  not  duty;  love 
drove  her  on ;  but  surely  not  love  for  them.  "  No," 
I  guessed  in  a  reverent  whisper,  "  but  love  for  Ned 
Ferry."  It  must  have  been  through  grace  of  some 
of  her  nobility  and  his,  caught  in  my  heart  even  before 
I  was  quite  sure  of  it  in  theirs,  that  I  sat  and  framed 
the  following  theory:  Ned  Ferry,  loving  Charlotte 
Oliver,  yet  coerced  by  his  sense  of  a  soldier's  duty,  had 
put  passion's  dictates  wholly  aside  and  had  set  about 
to  bring  these  murderers  to  justice ;  doing  this  though 
he  knew  that  she  could  never  with  honor  or  happiness 
to  either  of  them  become  the  wife  of  a  man  who  had 
made  her  a  widow,  while  she,  aware  of  his  love,  a  love 
so  true  that  he  would  not  breathe  it  to  her  while  this 
hideous  marriage  held  her,  had  ridden  perilously  in  the 
dead  of  night  to  circumvent  his  plans  if,  with  honor  to 
both  of  them,  it  could  be  done. 

The  half-hour  dragged  round  to  four.  My  horse 
roused  up  but  kept  as  quiet  as  a  clever  dog.  I  heard 


The  Cavalier 

a  light  sound  in  the  hall ;  first  a  step  and  then  a  slide, 
then  a  step  again  and  then  a  slide ;  Lucius  Oliver  was 
coming  toward  my  door.  The  cords  gathered  in  my 
throat  and  my  finger  stole  to  the  trigger ;  Heaven  only 
knew  what  noiseless  feet  might  be  following  behind 
that  loathsome  shuffle.  It  reached  the  door  and  was 
still.  And  now  the  door  opened,  softly,  slowly,  and 
the  paralytic  stood  looking  in.  The  moonlight  had 
swung  almost  out  of  the  room,  but  a  band  of  it  fell 
glittering  upon  the  revolver  lying  in  my  lap  with  my 
fingers  on  it,  each  exactly  in  place.  Also  it  lighted  my 
other  hand,  on  the  window-sill,  with  the  bridle  in  it. 
Old  Lucius  was  alone.  In  the  gloom  I  could  not  see 
his  venom  gathering,  but  I  could  almost  smell  it. 

XXI 

THE  FIGHT  ON  THE  BRIDGE 

"  GOOD-MORNING/'  I  murmured. 

"  Good-morning,"  he  responded,  tardily  and  grimly. 
"  Well,  you  air  in  a  hurry." 

"  Not  at  all,  sir.  I'm  sorry  to  seem  so;  it's  not  the 
tip-top  of  courtesy, — " 

"  No,  it  ain't  too  stinkin'  polite." 

"  True ;  but  neither  are  the  enemy,  and  they're  early 
risers,  you  know." 

"  Well,  good  Lord !  don't  hang  back  for  my  sake !  " 

I  put  on  an  offended  esteem.  "  My  dear  sir,  you've 
no  call  to  take  offence  at  me.  I'm  waiting  because  my 
business  is  too — well,  if  I  must  explain,  it's — it's  too 

86 


The  Fight  on  the  Bridge 

important  to  be  risked  except  by  good  safe  daylight; 
that's  all." 

Oh,  he  wasn't  taking  offence.  His  reptile  temper 
crawled  into  hiding,  and  when  I  said  day  was  break 
ing,  he  said  he  would  show  me  my  way. 

"  Why,  I  keep  the  plain  road,  don't  I  ?  " 

No,  he  would  not;  only  wagons  went  that  way,  to 
cross  the  creek  by  a  small  bridge.  I  could  cut  off 
nearly  two  miles  by  taking  the  bridle-path  that  turned 
sharply  down  into  the  thick  woods  of  the  creek-bot 
tom  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  house  and 
crossed  the  stream  at  a  sandy  ford.  "  Ride  round,"  he 
said,  "  and  I'll  show  you  from  the  front  of  the  house." 

Thence  he  pointed  out  a  distant  sycamore  looming 
high  against  the  soft  dawn.  There  was  the  fence-cor 
ner  at  which  the  bridle-path  left  the  road.  He  icily 
declined  pay  for  my  lodging.  "  We  never  charge  a 
Confederate  soldier  for  anything;  that's  not  our  way." 

Day  came  swiftly.  By  the  time  I  could  trot  down  to 
the  sycamore  it  was  perfectly  light  even  in  the  shade 
of  an  old  cotton-gin  house  close  inside  the  corner  of 
the  small  field  around  which  I  was  to  turn.  The  vast 
arms  of  its  horse-power  press,  spreading  rigidly  down 
ward,  offered  the  only  weird  aspect  that  lingered  in 
the  lovely  morning.  I  have  a  later  and  shuddering 
memory  of  it,  but  now  the  dewy  air  was  full  of  sweet 
odors,  the  squirrel  barked  from  the  woods,  the  wood 
pecker  tapped,  and  the  lark,  the  cardinal  and  the  mock 
ing-bird  were  singing  all  around.  The  lint-box  of  the 
old  cotton-press  was  covered  with  wet  morning-glories. 
J  took  the  bridle-path  between  the  woods  and  the  field 

87 


The  Cavalier 

and  very  soon  was  down  in  the  dense  forest  beyond 
them.  But  the  moment  I  was  hid  from  house  and 
clearing  I  turned  my  horse  square  to  the  left,  stooped 
to  his  neck,  and  made  straight  through  the  pathless 
tangle. 

Silence  was  silver  this  time,  speed  was  golden.  But 
every  step  met  its  obstacle;  there  were  low  boughs, 
festoons  of  long-moss,  bushes,  briers,  brake-cane, 
mossy  logs,  snaky  pools,  and  things  half  fallen  and  held 
dead.  If  at  any  point  on  the  bridle-path,  near  the 
stream,  some  cowpath,  footpath,  any  trail  whatever, 
led  across  to  the  road,  my  liers-in-wait  were  certainly 
guarding  it  and  would  rush  to  the  road  by  that  way 
as  soon  as  they  found  I  was  flanking  them.  And  so 
I  strove  on  at  the  best  speed  I  could  make,  and  burst 
into  the  road  with  a  crackle  and  crash  that  might  have 
been  heard  a  hundred  yards  away.  One  glance  up 
the  embowered  alley,  one  glance  down  it,  and  I 
whirled  to  the  right,  drove  in  the  spur,  and  flew  for 
the  bridge.  A  wild  minute  so — a  turn  in  the  road — 
no  one  in  sight !  Two  minutes — another  turn — no  one 
yet  1  Three — three — another  turn — no  one  in  front,  no 
one  behind — 

The  thunder  of  our  own  hoofs 
Was  all  the  sound  we  heard. 

A  fourth  turn  and  no  one  yet !  A  fifth — more  abrupt 
than  the  others — and  there — here — yonder  now  be 
hind — was  the  path  I  had  feared,  but  no  one  was  in 
it,  and  the  next  instant  the  bridge  flashed  into  view. 
With  a  great  clatter  I  burst  upon  it,  reached  the  mid- 
88 


The  Fight  on  the  Bridge 

die,  glanced  back,  and  dropped  complacently  into  a 
trot.  Tame  ending  if — but  as  I  looked  forward  again, 
what  did  I  see?  A  mounted  man.  At  the  other  end 
of  the  bridge,  in  the  shade  of  overhanging  trees,  he 
moved  into  view,  and  well  I  knew  the  neat  fit  of  that 
butternut  homespun.  He  flourished  a  revolver  above 
his  head  and  in  a  drunken  voice  bade  me  halt. 

I  halted ;  not  making  a  point  of  valor  or  discretion, 
but  because  he  was  Charlotte  Oliver's  husband.  I  read 
his  purpose  and  listened  behind  me  as  we  parleyed. 
"  Don't  halt  me,  sir,  I'm  a  courier  and  in  a  hurry." 

He  hiccoughed.     "  Let's — s' — see  y'  orders." 

I  took  my  weapon  into  my  bridle-hand  by  the  barrel 
and  began  to  draw  from  my  bosom  the  empty  envelope 
addressed  Coralie  Rothvelt.  At  the  same  time  I  let 
my  horse  move  forward  again,  while  I  still  listened 
backward  with  my  brain  as  busy  as  a  mill.  Was  there 
here  no  hidden  succor?  Was  that  no  part  of  Ned 
Ferry's  plan — if  the  plan  was  his?  Were  those  vil 
lains  wailing  yet,  up  at  the  ford?  I  could  hear  noth 
ing  at  my  back  but  the  singing  of  innumerable  birds.\ 

"  Halt ! "  the  drunkard  growled  again,  and  again  I 
halted,  wearing  a  look  of  timid  awe,  but  as  full  of  guile 
as  a  weasel.  I  reined  in  abruptly  so  as  to  make  the 
reach  between  us  the  fullest  length  of  my  outstretched 
arm  with  the  paper  in  two  fingers  as  I  leaned  over  the 
saddle-bow.  He  bent  and  reached  unsteadily,  and  took 
the  envelope;  but  hardly  could  his  eye  light  upon  the 
superscription  before  it  met  the  muzzle  of  my  weapon. 

"  Don't  move."  My  tone  was  affectionate.  "  Don't 
holla,  or  I'll  give  you  to  the  crows.  Back.  Back  off 

89 


The  Cavalier 

this  bridge — quick!  or  I'll — "  I  pushed  the  pistol 
nearer ;  the  danger  was  no  less  to  him  because  I  was 
thoroughly  frightened.  He  backed;  but  he  glared  a 
devilish  elation,  for  behind  me  beat  the  hoofs  of  both 
his  horsemen.  I  had  to  change  my  tactics. 

"  Halt !    Turn  as  I  turn,  and  keep  your  eye  on  this." 

Glad  was  I  then  to  be  on  a  true  cavalryman's  horse 
that  answered  the  closing  of  my  left  leg  and  moved 
steadily  around  till  I  could  see  down  the  bridge. 
Oliver,  after  a  step  or  two,  stopped.  "  Turn !  "  I  yelled, 
and  swelled.  "  One,  two, — " 

He  turned.  There  was  not  a  second  to  spare.  The 
two  long-haired  fellows  came  nip  and  tuck.  I  see  yet 
their  long  deer-hunters'  rifles.  But  I  remembered  my 
pledge  to  this  man's  wife,  and  proudly  found  I  had 
the  nerve  to  hold  the  trigger  still  unpressed  when  at 
the  apron  of  the  bridge  the  rascals  caught  their  first 
full  sight  of  us  as  we  sat  humpshouldered,  eye  to  eye, 
like  one  gray  tomcat  and  one  yellow  one.  They 
dragged  their  horses  back  upon  their  hauncnes.  One 
leaped  to  the  ground,  the  other  aimed  from  the  sad 
dle  ;  but  the  first  shot  that  woke  the  echoes  was  neither 
theirs  nor  mine,  but  Sergeant  Jirn  Langley's,  though 
that,  of  course,  I  did  not  know.  It  came  from  a  tree 
on  our  side  of  the  water,  some  forty  yards  downstream. 
The  man  in  the  saddle  fired  wild,  and  as  his  horse 
wheeled  and  ran,  the  rider  slowly  toppled  over  back 
ward  out  of  saddle  and  stirrups  and  went  slamming  to 
the  ground. 

His  companion  had  no  time  to  fire.  Instantly  after 
these  two  shots  came  a  third,  and  some  willows  up- 

90 


The  Fight  on  the  Bridge 

stream  filled  with  its  white  smoke.  The  second  long 
rifle  fell  upon  the  bridge  and  its  owner  sank  to  his 
knees  heaving  out  long  cries  of  agony  that  swelled  in 
a  tremor  of  echoes  up  and  down  the  stream.  Another 
voice,  stalwart,  elated,  cut  through  it  like  a  sword. 
"  Don't  shoot,  Smith,  we're  coming ;  save  that  hound 
for  the  halter!" 

The  groans  of  the  wounded  man  closed  in  behind  it, 
a  flood  of  agony,  and  my  own  outcry  increased  the  din 
as  I  called  "  Come  quick,  come  quick !  the  wounded  fel 
low's  remounting ! " 

The  wretch  had  lifted  himself  to  his  feet  by  a  stir 
rup.  Then,  giving  out,  he  had  sunk  prone,  and  now, 
still  torturing  the  air  with  his  horrid  cries,  was  crawl 
ing  for  his  rifle.  Oliver  saw  I  had  a  new  inspiration. 
All  the  drunkenness  left  his  eyes  and  they  became  the 
eyes  of  a  snake,  but  too  quickly  for  him  to  guess  my 
purpose  I  turned  my  weapon  from  his  face  and  fired. 
His  revolver  flew  from  his  bleeding  hand,  a  stream  of 
curses  started  from  his  lips,  and  as  I  thrust  my  pistol 
into  his  face  again  and  snatched  his  bridle  he  screamed 
to  the  crawling  woodman  "  Shoot !  shoot !  Kill  one  or 
the  other  of  us !  Oh !  shoot !  shoot !  " 

The  rifle  cracked,  but  its  ball  sang  over  us ;  a  shot 
answered  it  behind  me ;  the  howling  man's  voice  died 
in  a  gurgle,  and  Sergeant  Jim  ran  by  me,  leaped  upon 
the  horse  that  had  stayed  beside  his  fallen  rider,  and 
was  off  hot-footed  after  the  other.  "  Turn  your  pris 
oner  over  to  Kendall,  Smith,"  he  cried,  "  and  put  out 
like  hell  for  Clifton!" 

I  gave  no  assent,  and  I  believe  Oliver  guessed  my 


The  Cavalier 

purpose  to  save  him,  though  his  eyes  were  as  venomous 
as  ever.  I  flirted  the  rein  off  his  horse's  neck  and  said, 
savagely  "  Come !  quick !  trot !  gallop !  "  The  ser 
geant's  young  companion  of  the  morning  before  dashed 
out  of  the  bushes  on  his  horse  with  Jim's  horse  in  lead. 
"  I've  got  him  safe,  Kendall,"  I  cried,  and  my  cap 
tive  and  I  sped  by  him  at  a  gallop  on  our  way  to  Ned 
Ferry's  command. 

XXII 

WE  SPEED  A  PARTING  GUEST 

RISING  to  higher  ground,  we  turned  into  the  Natchez, 
and  Port  Gibson  road  where  a  farm-house  and  country 
"  store  "  constituted  Clifton.  Still  at  a  gallop  we  left 
these  behind  and  entered  a  broad  lane  between  fields 
of  tasselling  corn,  where  we  saw  a  gallant  sight.  In  the 
early  sunlight  and  in  the  pink  dust  of  their  own  feet, 
down  the  red  clay  road  at  an  easy  trot  in  column  by 
fours,  the  blue-gray  of  their  dress  flashing  with  the 
glint  of  the  carbines  at  their  backs,  came  Ferry's  scouts 
with  Ned  Ferry  at  their  head.  There  was  his  beauti 
ful  brown  horse  under  him,  too.  My  captive  and  I 
dropped  to  a  walk,  the  column  did  the  same,  and  Ferry 
trotted  forward,  beckoning  us  to  halt.  His  face  showed 
triumph  and  commendation,  but  no  joy.  Oliver  an 
swered  his  scrutiny  with  a  blaze  of  defiance. 

"  Good-morning,  Smith,  who  is  your  prisoner  ?  " 

"  His  name  is  Oliver." 

Ferry  looked  behind  to  the  halted  column.  "  Lieu- 
92 


We  Speed  a  Parting  Guest 

tenant  Quinn,  send  two  men  to  guard  this  one.    Smith, 
where's  Sergeant  Langley ;  where's  Kendall  ?  " 

While  I  told  of  the  scrimmage,  the  guard  relieved 
me  of  Oliver,  and  as  I  finished,  three  men  galloped 
up  and  reined  in.  "  All  right,"  said  one,  saluting. 

"  South  ? "  asked  our  leader. 

"  Before  day,"  replied  the  new-comer,  glowing  with 
elation,  and  I  grasped  the  fact  that  the  enemy  had 
taken  our  bait  and  I  had  not  betrayed  my  country. 
The  three  men  went  to  the  column,  and  Ferry,  looking 
up  from  the  despatch  which  I  had  delivered  to  him, 
said — 

"  Of  course  no  one  has  seen  this  despatch,  eh  ? — 
Oh !  "—a  smile— "  yes  ?  who  ?  " 

"  Two  Federal  officers." 

"Two— what?"  His  smile  broadened.  "You 
Arnozt'that?" 

"  I  saw  them,  Lieutenant,  looking  in  at  the  door  to 
see  the  despatch  put  back  under  my  pillow.  Yes,  sir, 
by  the  same  hand  that  had  shown  it  to  them." 

"  Whose  hand  was  it ;  that  fellow's,  yonder  ? " 
Oliver  was  several  paces  away. 

"  No,  Lieutenant,  I  don't  believe  he  had  anything 
to  do  with  it;  and  I've  no  absolute  proof,  either,  that 
he  was  at  the  bridge  to  rob  or  kill  me.  I  threatened 
his  life  first,  sir.  At  any  rate  that  hand  under  my 
pillow  was  neither  his  nor  his  father's." 

"  But  they  were  present,  eh  ?  " 

"They  were  neither  of  them  present,  Lieutenant; 
that  hand  was  Miss  Coralie  Rothvelt's." 

"  Oh,  nol  "  he  murmured,  "  that  cannot  bel " 
93 


The  Cavalier 

"  I  saw  her  face,  Lieutenant,  nearer  to  mine  than 
yours  is  now.  But  she  did  it  to  help  us — oh,  but  I 
know  that,  sir!  She  came  under  my  window  and  told 
me  she  had  done  it !  She  told  me  to  tell  you  she  hadn\ 
thwarted  your  plan,  but  only  improved  on  it,  and  I 
believe — Lieutenant,  if  you  will  hear  me  patiently 
through  a  confession  which — "  I  choked  with  emo 
tion. 

He  lighted  up  with  happy  relief.  "  No,  you  need 
not  make  it.  And  you  need  not  turn  so  pale."  Where 
at  I  turned  red.  "  She  saw  the  despatch  was  a  trap 
for  the  Yankees,  and  used  it  so,  you  think?  Ah, 
yes,  Smith,  I  see  it  all,  now;  she  pumped  you  dry." 

I  could  not  speak,  I  shook  my  head,  and  for  evidence 
in  rebuttal  I  showed  in  my  eyes  two  fountains  of  stand 
ing  tears. 

"How,  then,  did  she  know?" 

"  Lieutenant,  she  guessed !  She  must  have  just  put 
two  and  two  together  and  guessed !  Or  else,  Lieuten 
ant,—" 

"  She  must  have  pumped  others  before  she  pumped 
you,  eh  ?  "  There  was  confession  in  his  good  humor. 
"  But  tell  me ;  did  she  not  see  also  this  other  trap,  for 
this  man  and  his  father,  and  try  to  save  them  out  of 
it  ? — oh,  if  you  don't  want — never  mind."  c\He  laid  a 
leg  over  the  front  of  his  saddle  and  sat  thinking.  So 
I  see  him  to-day:  his  chestnut  locks,  his  goodly  limbs 
and  shoulders,  the  graceful  boots,  cut-away  jacket, 
faded  sash,  straight  sword,  and  that  look  of  care  on 
his  features  which  intensified  the  charm  of  their  spirit 
ual  cleanness;  behind  him  his  band  of  picked  heroes, 

94 


We  Speed  a  Parting  Guest 

and  for  background  the  June  sky.  Whenever  I  smell 
dewy  corn-fields  smitten  with  the  sun  that  picture 
comes  back  to  me.^ 

"  No,"  he  said  again,  "  you  need  not  tell  me."  By 
a  placid  light  in  his  face  I  saw  he  understood.  He 
drew  his  watch,  put  it  back,  thought  on,  and  smiled 
at  my  uniform.  "  It  has  not  the  blue  of  the  others," 
he  said,  "  but  indeed  they  are  not  all  alike,  and  it  will 
match  the  most  of  them — after  a  rain  or  two — and  some 
dust.  You  have  been  trading  horses  ?  " 

I  explained.  While  doing  so  I  saw  one  of  the  guard 
reaching  the  prisoner's  bridle  to  the  other.  Hah! 
Oliver  had  slapped  the  bridle  free.  In  went  his  spurs  I 
By  a  great  buffet  on  the  horse's  neck  he  wheeled  him, 
and  with  the  rein  dangling  under  the  bits  went  over 
the  fence  like  a  deer.  "  Bang!  bang!  bang!  " 

It  was  idle ;  a  magic  seems  to  shield  a  captive's  leap 
for  life.  Away  across  the  corn  he  went  to  the  edge 
of  a  tangled  wood,  over  the  fence  there  again,  and  into 
the  brush.  "Halt!  bang!"  and  "Halt!  bang!"  it 
was,  at  every  bound,  but  now  the  pursuers  came  back 
empty  -  handed,  some  contemptuously  silent,  some 
laughing.  Ferry  glanced  again  at  the  time,  and  I  was 
having  within  me  a  quarrel  with  him  for  his  indiffer 
ence  at  the  prisoner's  escape,  when  with  cold  severity 
he  asked — 

"Why  did  you  not  fire?" 

I  flushed  with  indignation,  and  my  eye  retorted  to 
his  that  I  had  only  followed  his  example.  His  answer 
was  a  smile.  "You,  also,  have  been  guessing,  eh?" 
he  said,  and  when  I  glowed  with  gratitude  he  added, 

95 


The  Cavalier 

"  Never  mind,  we  must  have  a  long  talk.  At  present 
there  is  a  verbal  message  for  me;  what  is  it?" 

"  Verbal  message  ?  No,  Lieutenant,  she  didn't— oh ! 
—from  the  General !  Yes !  the  General  says—'  Rod 
ney/  ' 

He  turned  and  moved  to  the  head  of  the  column. 
I  followed.  There,  "  Left  into  line  wheel— march ! " 
chanted  our  second  in  command.  "  Backwards — 
march ! "  and  then  "  Right  dress !  "  and  the  line,  that 
had  been  a  column,  dressed  along  the  western  edge  of 
the  road  with  the  morning  sun  in  their  faces.  Then 
Ferry  called  "  Fours  from  the  right,  to  march  to  the 
left — march !  "  and  he  and  Quinn  passed  up  the  mid 
dle  of  the  road  along  the  front  of  the  line,  with  yours 
truly  close  at  their  heels,  while  behind  us  the  command 
broke  into  column  again  by  fours  from  the  right  and 
set  the  pink  dust  afloat  as  they  followed  back  northward 
over  their  own  tracks  with  Sergeant  Jim  beside  the  first 
four  as  squadron  right  guide.  I  had  got  where  I  was  by 
some  mistake  which  I  did  not  know  how  to  correct, — 
I  was  no  drill-master's  pride, — and  there  was  much  sup 
pressed  amusement  at  my  expense  along  the  front  as 
we  rode  down  it.  At  every  few  steps  until  the  whole 
line  was  a  column  Ned  Ferry  dropped  some  word  of 
cheer,  and  each  time  there  would  come  back  an  equally 
quiet  and  hearty  reply.  Near  the  middle  he  said 
"  Brisk  work  ahead  of  us  to-day,  boys,"  and  I  heard 
the  reiteration  of  his  words  run  among  the  ranks.  I 
also  heard  one  man  bid  another  warm  some  milk  for 
the  baby.  Trotting  by  a  grove  where  the  company  had 
passed  the  night,  we  presently  took  the  walk  to  break 

96 


Ferry  Talks  of  Charlotte 

by  twos,  and  as  we  resumed  the  trot  and  turned  west 
ward  into  a  by-road,  Lieutenant  Quinn  dropped  back 
to  the  column  and  sent  me  forward  to  the  side  of  Ned 
Ferry.  I  went  with  cold  shivers. 


XXIII 

FERRY  TALKS  OF  CHARLOTTE 

"  You  have  no  carbine,"  said  my  commander.  "  And 
you  have  but  one  revolver ;  here  is  another." 

I  knew  it  at  a  glance.    "  It's  Oliver's,"  I  said. 

"  We'll  call  it  yours  now,"  he  replied.  "  Kendall 
picked  it  up,  but  he  has  no  need  of  it." 

I  remarked  irrelevantly  that  I  had  not  noticed  when 
Sergeant  Jim  and  Kendall  rejoined  us,  but  Ferry  stuck 
to  the  subject  of  the  captured  weapon.  "  Take  it,"  he 
insisted;  "  if  you  are  not  fully  armed  you  will  find  your 
self  holding  horses  every  time  we  dismount  to  fight. 
And  now,  Smith,  I  shall  not  report  to  the  General  this 
matter  of  the  Olivers;  you  shall  tell  him  the  whole  of 
it,  yourself;  you  are  my  scout,  but  you  are  his  courier." 

"  Lieutenant,  I — I  wish  I  knew  the  whole  of  it." 

"  Tell  him  all  you  know." 

"  Even  things  she  doesn't  want  told?  " 

"Ah!" — he  gave  a  Creole  shrug — "that  you  must 
decide,  on  the  honor  of  a  good  soldier.  She  has  taken 
you  into  her  confidence?  " 

"  Only  into  her  service,"  I  said,  but  he  raised  his 
brows. 

97 


The  Cavalier 

"That  is  more;  certainly  you  are  honored.  What 
is  it  you  would  rather  not  tell  the  General  and  yet 
you  must;  do  I  know  that  already?  " 

"Yes,  for  one  thing,  I've  got  to  tell  him  that  old 
Lucius  Oliver  can't  be  hung  too  high  or  too  soon.  For 
months  he  has  been — " 

Ferry  showed  pain.  "  I  know ;  save  that  for  the  Gen 
eral.  And  what  else?" 

"  Why,  the  other  one — the  son.  Lieutenant,  is  she 
that  monster's  wife?  " 

Ferry  stroked  his  horse's  neck  and  said  very  softly, 
"  She  is  his  wife."  I  had  to  wait  long  for  him  to  say 
more,  but  at  length,  with  the  same  measured  mildness, 
he  spoke  on.  This  amazing  Charlotte,  bereft  of  father, 
brother  and  mother,  ward  of  a  light-headed  married 
sister,  and  in  these  distracted  times  lacking  any  friend 
with  the  courage,  wisdom  and  kind  activity  to  probe 
the  pretensions  of  her  suitor,  had  been  literally  snared 
into  marriage  by  this  human  spider,  this  Oliver,  a  man 
of  just  the  measure  to  simulate  with  cunning  and  patient 
labor  the  character,  bearing  and  antecedents  of  a  true 
and  exceptional  gentleman  for  the  sake  of  devouring  a 
glorious  woman. 

"  But,  oh ! "  I  exclaimed,  "  how  could  ever  such  as 
she  mistake  him  for — " 

"  Ah,  he  is,  I  doubt  not,  but  the  burnt-out  ruin  of 
what  he  was  half  a  year  ago.  You  perceive,  he  has  not 
succeeded;  he  has  not  devoured  her;  actually  she  has 
turned  his  fangs  upon  himself  and  has  defeated  his  de 
signs  toward  her  as  if  by  magic.  And  yet  the  only 
magic  has  been  her  vigilance,  her  courage,  her  sagacity. 


Ferry  Talks  of  Charlotte 

Smith," — again  he  stroked  the  mane  of  his  charger— 
"  if  I  tell  you—" 

I  gave  him  no  pledge  but  a  look. 

"  Since  the  hour  of  her  marriage  she  has  never  gone 
into  her  chamber  without  locking  the  door;  she  has 
never  come  out  of  it  unarmed." 

I  remarked  that  had  I  been  in  her  place  I  should 
either  have  sunk  into  the  mire,  so  to  speak,  or  thrown 
myself,  literally,  into  the  river. 

"  Yes,"  he  responded,  "  but  not  she!  Her  life  is  still 
hers;  she  will  neither  give  it  away  nor  throw  it  away. 
She  wants  it,  and  she  wants  it  whole." 

"  Did  she  say  that  to  you?  " 

He  looked  at  me  in  wide  surprise.  "  Ah!  could  you 
think  she  would  speak  with  me  on  that  subject?  No, 
I  have  learned  what  I  know  from  a  man  we  shall  meet 
to-day;  the  brother  of  Major  Harper;  and  he,  he  has  it 
from — "  my  companion  smiled — "  somebody  you  have 
known  a  pretty  long  time,  I  think,  eh?  " 

"  I  see;  I  see;  you  mean  my  mother!  " 

He  let  me  ponder  the  fact  a  long  time.  "Lieuten 
ant,"  I  asked  at  length,  "  did  you  know  your  plot 
against  the  two  Olivers  would  cross  her  wishes?  " 

"  Ah ! "  was  his  quick  response,  "  it  crossed  mine, 
like-ivise.  But,  you  know,  this  life  we  have  to  live,  it 
is  never  for  two  people  only." 

"  No,"  I  replied,  with  my  eagerness  to  moralize, "  no 
two  persons,  and  above  all  no  one  man  and  one  woman, 
can  ever  be  sure  of  their  duty,  or  even  of  their  happi 
ness,  till  they  consider  at  least  one  third  person, — " 

"  Hoh !  "  interrupted  Ferry,  in  the  manner  of  one  to 

99 


The  Cavalier 

whom  the  fact  was  somehow  of  the  most  immediate 
and  lively  practical  interest,  "  and  to  consider  a  thou 
sand  is  better."  Then,  after  a  pause,  "  Yes,"  he  said, 
"  I  know  she  could  not  like  that  move,  but  you  remem 
ber  our  talk  of  yesterday,  where  we  first  met  ?  " 

Indeed  I  did.  Between  young  men,  to  whom  the 
principles  of  living  were  still  unproved  weapons,  there 
was,  to  my  taste,  just  one  sort  of  talk  better  than  table- 
talk,  and  that  was  saddle-talk ;  I  remembered  vividly. 
"  You  mean  when  we  were  saying  that  on  whatever 
road  a  man's  journey  lies,  if  he  will,  first  of  all,  stick 
to  that  road,  and  then  every  time  it  divides  take  the — 
I  see !  you  came  to  where  the  road  divided !  " 

"  Yes,  and  of  course  I  had  to  take  the  upper  fork. 
I  am  glad  you  said  that  yesterday  morning ;  it  came  as 
sometimes  the  artillery,  eh? — just  at  the  right  mo 
ment." 

"  I  didn't  say  it,  Lieutenant ;  you  said  it." 

"  No,  I  think  you  said  it ; — sounds  like  you." 

"  It  was  you  who  said  it !  and  anyhow,  it  was  you 
who  had  the  strength  to  do  it !  " 

He  laughed.  "  Oh !— a  little  strength,  a  little  vanity, 
— pride — self-love — we  have  to  use  them  all — as  a 
good  politician  uses  men." 

I  looked  him  squarely  in  the  eyes  and  began  to  burn. 
At  every  new  unfolding  of  his  confidence  I  had  let  my 
own  vanity,  pride,  self-love  be  more  and  more  flattered, 
and  here  at  length  was  getting  ready  to  esteem  him  less 
for  showing  such  lack  of  reserve  as  to  use  me  as  an 
escape-valve  for  his  pent-up  thoughts,  when  all  at  once 
I  fancied  I  saw  what  he  was  trying  to  do.  I  believed 

100 


Ferry  Talks  :of  Charlotte 

he  had  guessed  my  temptations  of  the  night  and  was 
,  making  use  of  himself  to  warn  me  how  to  fight  them. 
"  I  understand/'  said  I,  humbly. 

But  this  only  pleasantly  mystified  him.  He  glanced 
all  over  me  with  a  playful  eye  and  said,  "  You  must 
have  a  carbine  the  first  time  our  ordnance-wagon  finds 
us.  Drop  back,  now,  into  the  ranks." 

I  did  so;  but  I  felt  sure  I  should  ride  beside  him 
again  as  soon  as  he  could  make  an  opportunity ;  for  it 
was  plain  that  by  a  subtle  unconfessed  accord  he  and 
she  had  chosen  me  to  be  a  true  friend  between  them. 

About  noon,  while  taking  a  brief  rest  to  give  our 
horses  a  bite,  we  were  joined  by  an  ambulance  carry 
ing  Major  Harper's  brother  and  some  freight  which 
certainly  was  not  hospital  stores.  When  we  remounted, 
this  vehicle  moved  on  with  us,  in  the  middle  of  the 
column,  and  I  was  called  to  ride  beside  it  and  tell  all 
about  the  arrival  of  Miss  Harper  and  her  nieces  at 
Hazlehurst,  and  their  journey  from  Brookhaven  to 
camp.  Ned  Ferry  rode  on  the  side  opposite  me  and 
I  noticed  that  all  the  fellows  nearest  the  ambulance 
were  choice  men;  Sergeant  Jim  was  not  there,  but 
Kendall  was  one,  and  a  young  chap  on  a  large  white- 
footed  pacer  was  another.  Having  finished  my  task 
I  had  gathered  my  horse  to  fall  back  to  my  place  at 
the  rear,  when  my  distinguished  auditor  said,  "  I'm 
acquainted  with  your  mother,  you  know." 

He  was  not  so  handsome  as  his  brother,  though 
younger.  His  affability  came  by  gleams.  I  asked  how 
that  good  fortune  had  come  to  my  mother,  and  he  re 
plied  that  there  was  hardly  time  now  for  another  story ; 

IOI 


The  Cavalier 

we  might  be  interrupted — by  the  Yankees.  "  Ask  the 
young  lady  you  met  yesterday  evening,"  he  added,  with 
a  knowing  glearn,  and  smiled  me  away;  and  when  by 
and  by  the  enemy  did  interrupt,  I  had  forgiven  him. 
Whoever  failed  to  answer  my  questions,  in  those  days,, 
incurred  my  forgiveness. 

XXIV 

A  MILLION  AND  A   HALF 

ABOUT  mid-afternoon  I  awoke  from  deep  sleep  on  a 
bed  of  sand  in  the  roasting  shade  of  a  cottonwood 
jungle.  A  corporal  was  shaking  me  and  whispering 
"  Make  no  noise ;  mount  and  fall  in." 

Round  about  in  the  stifling  thicket  a  score  of  men 
were  doing  so.  Lieutenant  Quinn  stood  by,  and  at 
his  side  Sergeant  Jim  seemed  to  have  just  come  among 
us.  The  place  was  pathless;  only  in  two  directions 
could  one  see  farther  than  a  few  yards.  Through  one 
narrow  opening  came  an  intolerable  glare  of  sunlight 
from  a  broad  sheet  of  gliding  water,  while  by  another 
break  in  the  motionless  foliage  could  be  seen  in  milder 
light,  filling  nearly  the  whole  northern  view,  the  tawny 
flood  of  the  Mississippi.  A  stretch  of  the  farther  shore 
was  open  fields  lying  very  low  and  hidden  by  a  levee. 

As  we  noiselessly  fell  into  line,  counting  off  in  a 
whisper  and  rubbing  from  ourselves  and  our  tortured 
horses  the  flies  we  were  forbidden  to  slap,  I  noticed  ris 
ing  from  close  under  that  farther  levee  and  some  two 
miles  upstream,  a  small  cloud  of  dust  coming  rapidly 
down  the  hidden  levee  road.  It  seemed  to  be  raised 

102 


A  Million  and  a  Half 

entirely  by  one  or  two  vehicles.  Behind  us  our  own 
main  shore  was  wholly  concealed  by  this  mass  of  cot- 
tonwoods  on  the  sands  between  it  and  the  stream,  on 
a  spit  of  which  we  stood  ambushed.  On  the  water, 
a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  or  so  from  the  jungle,  pointed 
obliquely  across  the  vast  current,  was  a  large  skiff 
with  six  men  in  it.  Four  were  rowing  with  all  their 
power,  a  fifth  sat  in  the  bow  and  the  other  in  the  stern. 
Quinn,  in  the  saddle,  watched  through  his  glass  the 
cottonwoods  from  which  the  skiff  had  emerged  at  the 
bottom  of  a  sheltered  bay.  Now  he  shifted  his  gaze  to 
the  little  whirl  of  Just  across  the  river,  and  now  he 
turned  to  smile  at  Jim,  but  his  eye  lighted  on  me  in 
stead.  I  risked  a  knowing  look  and  motioned  with 
my  lips,  "  Just  in  time !  " 

"  No,"  he  murmured, "  they're  late ;  we've  been  wait 
ing  for  them." 

The  sergeant's  low  order  broke  the  platoon  into 
column  by  file,  Quinn  rode  toward  its  head  with  his 
blade  drawn,  and  as  he  passed  me  he  handed  me  his 
glass.  "  Here,  you  with  no  carbine,  stay  and  watch 
that  boat  till  I  send  for  you.  If  there's  firing,  look 
sharp  to  see  if  any  one  there  is  Hit,  and  who,  and  how 
hard.  Watch  the  boat,  nothing  else." 

He  moved  straight  landward  through  the  cotton- 
woods,  followed  by  the  men  in  single  file,  but  halted 
them  while  the  rear  was  still  discernible  in  the  green 
tangle.  Presently  they  unslung  carbines,  and  I  dis 
tinctly  heard  galloping.  It  was  not  far  beyond  the 
cottonwoods.  The  Yankees  were  after  us.  Suddenly 
it  ceased.  Over  yonder,  shoreward  in  the  thicket, 

IQ3 


The  Cavalier 

came  a  sharp  command  and  then  a  second,  and  then, 
right  on  the  front  of  the  jungle,  at  the  water's  edge, 
the  shots  began  to  puff  and  crack,  and  the  yellow  river 
out  here  around  the  boat  to  spit! — spit! — in  wicked 
white  splashes.  Every  second  their  number  grew.  Be 
hind  me  Quinn  and  his  men  stole  away.  But  orders 
are  orders  and  I  had  no  choice  but  to  watch  the  boat. 
The  man  in  the  stern  had  his  back  to  me,  and  no  face 
among  the  other  five  did  I  know.  They  were  fast  get 
ting  away,  but  the  splashes  came  thick  and  close  and 
presently  one  ball  found  its  mark.  The  man  at  the 
stern  hurriedly  changed  places  with  an  oarsman ;  and 
as  the  relieved  rower  took  his  new  seat  he  turned  slowly 
upon  his  face  as  if  in  mortal  pain,  and  I  saw  that  the 
fresh  hand  at  the  oar  was  the  brother  of  Major  Harper. 
Just  as  I  made  the  discovery  "  Boom !  "  said  my  small 
dust-cloud  across  the  river,  and  "  hurry-hurry-hurry- 
hurry-hurry-hurry-hurry — "  like  a  train  on  a  trestle- 
work — "  boom !  " — a  shell  left  its  gray  track  in  the  still 
air  over  the  skiff  and  burst  in  the  tops  of  the  cotton- 
woods.  The  green  thicket  grew  pale  with  the  bomb's 
white  smoke,  yet  "  crack  I  crack !  "  and  "  spit !  spit !  " 
persisted  the  blue-coats*  rifles.  "  Boom !  "  said  again 
the  field-piece  on  yonder  side  the  water.  Its  shell  came 
rattling  through  the  air  to  burst  on  this  side,  out  of 
the  flashing  and  cracking  of  rifles  and  the  sulphurous 
bomb  smoke  arose  cries  of  men  getting  mangled,  and 
I  whimpered  and  gnawed  my  lips  for  joy,  and  I  watched 
the  boat,  but  no  second  shot  came  aboard,  and — 
"  Boom ! — hurry-hurry-hurry-hurry  " — ah !  the  fright 
ful  skill  of  it!  a  third  shell  tore  the  cottonwoods,  its 

104 


A  Million  and  a  Half 

smoke  slowly  broadened  out,  a  Federal  bugle  beyond 
the  thicket  sounded  the  Rally,  and  the  cracking  of  car 
bines  ceased. 

Now  Major  Harper's  brother  passes  a  word  to  the 
man  at  the  boat's  bow,  whereupon  this  man  springs 
up  and  a  Confederate  officer's  braids  flash  on  his  sleeve 
as  he  waves  to  the  western  shore  to  cease  firing.  I 
still  watch  the  boat,  but  I  listen  behind  me.  I  hear 
voices  of  command,  the  Federal  sergeants  hurrying 
the  troop  out  of  the  jungle  and  back  to  their  horses. 
Then  there  comes  a  single  voice,  the  commander's  evi 
dently;  but  before  it  can  cease  it  is  swallowed  up  in 
a  low  thunder  of  hoofs  and  then  in  a  burst  of  cries  and 
cheers  which  themselves  the  next  moment  are  drowned 
in  a  rattle  of  carbine  and  pistol  shots — Ferry  is  down 
on  them  out  of  hiding.  Thick  and  silent  above  the  din 
rises  the  dust  of  the  turmoil,  and  out  of  all  the  hubbub 
under  it  I  can  single  out  the  voice  of  the  Federal  cap 
tain  yelling  curses  and  orders  at  his  panic-stricken 
men.  And  now  the  melee  rolls  southward,  the  crackle 
of  shots  grows  less  and  then  more  again,  and  then  all 
at  once  comes  the  crash  of  Quinn's  platoon  out  of  am 
bush,  their  cheer,  their  charge,  the  crackle  of  pistols 
again,  and  then  another  cheer  and  charge — what  is 
that !  Ferry  re-formed  and  down  on  them  afresh  ?  No, 
it  was  the  hard-used  but  gallant  foe  cutting  their  way 
out  and  getting  off  after  all. 

The  skiff  was  touching  the  farther  shore  and  the 
three  oarsmen  lifting  their  stricken  comrade  out  and 
bearing  him  to  the  top  of  the  levee,  when  Kendall  came 
to  recall  me.  On  our  way  back  he  told  me  of  the  fight, 

105 


The  Cavalier 

beginning  with  the  results:  none  of  our  own  men 
killed  outright,  but  four  badly  wounded  and  already 
started  eastward  in  the  ambulance  left  us  by  the 
Major's  brother ;  some  others  more  slightly  hurt.  My 
questions  were  headlong  and  his  answers  quiet ;  he  was 
a  slow-spoken  daredevil;  I  wish  he  came  more  than 
he  does  into  this  story. 

Not  slow-spoken  did  we  find  the  command  when  we 
reached  the  road  where  they  were  falling  into  line. 
After  a  brief  but  vain  pursuit,  here  were  almost  the 
haste  and  tumult  of  the  onset;  the  sweat  of  it  still 
reeked  on  everyone;  the  ground  was  strewn  with  its 
wreckage  and  its  brute  and  human  dead,  and  the  pools 
of  their  blood  were  still  warm.  Squarely  across  the 
middle  of  the  road,  begrimed  with  dust,  and  with  a 
dead  Federal  under  him  and  another  on  top,  lay  the 
big  white-footed  pacer.  At  one  side  the  enemy's  fallen 
wounded  were  being  laid  in  the  shade  to  be  left  behind. 
In  our  ranks,  here  was  a  man  with  an  arm  in  a  bloody 
handkerchief,  there  one  with  his  head  so  bound,  and 
yonder  a  young  fellow  jesting  wildly  while  he  let  his 
garments  be  cut  and  a  flesh-wound  in  his  side  be  rudely 
stanched.  Here  there  was  laughter  at  one  who  had 
been  saved  by  his  belt-buckle,  and  here  at  one  who  had 
dropped  like  dead  from  his  horse,  but  had  caught  an 
other  horse  and  charged  on.  But  these  details  imply  a 
delay  where  in  fact  there  was  none ;  the  moment  Ferry 
spied  me  he  asked  "  Did  he  get  across  ?  "  and  while  I 
answered  he  motioned  me  into  the  line.  Then  he 
changed  it  into  a  column,  commanded  silence,  and  led 
ps  across  country  eastward. 

106 


«•       A  Million  and  a  Half 

For  those  few  wounded  who  would  not  give  up  their 
p&ces  in  the  ranks  it  was  a  weary  ten  miles  that 
brought  us  swiftly  back  to  a  point  within  five  miles  of 
that  Clifton  which  we  had  left  in  the  morning.  And 
yet  a  lovely  ten  miles  it  was,  withal.  You  would  hardly 
have  known  this  tousled  crowd  for  the  same  dandy 
crew  that  had  smiled  so  flippantly  upon  me  at  sunrise, 
though  they  smiled  as  flippantly  now  with  faces 
powder-blackened,  hair  and  eyelashes  matted  and 
gummed  with  sweat  and  dust,  and  shoulders  and  thighs 
caked  with  grime.  Yet  to  Ned  Ferry  as  well  as  to  me 
— I  saw  it  in  his  eye  every  time  he  looked  at  them — 
these  grimy  fellows  did  more  to  beautify  those  ten  miles 
than  did  June  woods  beflowered  and  perfumed  with 
magnolia,  bay  and  muscadine,  or  than  slant  sunlight  in 
glade  or  grove. 

In  a  stretch  of  timber  where  we  broke  ranks  for  a 
short  rest,  unbitting  but  not  unsaddling,  a  lot  of  fellows 
pressed  me  to  tell  them  about  the  boat  on  the  river. 
"  You  heard  what  was  in  it,  didn't  you  ?  "  asked  one 
nearly  as  young  as  I. 

"  Besides  the  men  ?  No.  Same  that  was  in  the  am 
bulance,  I  suppose ;  what  was  it  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  know  ?  Oh,  I  remember,  you  were  asleep 
when  Quinn  told  us.  Well,  sir," — he  tried  to  speak 
calmly  but  he  had  to  speak  somehow  or  explode — "  it 
was  soldiers'  pay — for  Dick  Taylor's  army,  over  in  the 
Trans-Mississippi ;  a  million  and  a  half  dollars ! "  He 
was  as  proud  to  tell  the  news  as  he  would  have  been 
to  own  the  money. 


107 


The  Cavalier 
xxv 

A  QUIET  RIDE 

WHERE  Ferry's  scouts  camped  that  night  I  3o  not 
know,  for  we  had  gone  only  two  or  three  miles  beyond 
our  first  momentary  halting-place  when  their  leader 
left  them  to  Quinn  and  sprang  away  southward  over 
fence,  hedge,  road,  ditch — whatever  lay  across  his  bee- 
line,  and  by  his  order  I  followed  at  his  heels. 

In  a  secluded  north-and-south  road  he  looked  back 
and  beckoned  me  to  his  side :  "  You  saw  Major  Har 
per's  brother  land  safe  and  sound,  you  say  ?  He  told 
you  this  morning  he  is  acquainted  with  your  mother, 
eh ;  but  not  how  ?  " 

"  No,  except  that  it  was  through — " 

"  Yes,  I  know.  But  you  don't  know  even  how  your 
mother  is  acquainted  with  her." 

"  No,  though  of  course  if  she  lived  in  the  city,  com 
mon  sympathies  might  easily  bring  them  together." 

"  She  did  not  live  in  the  city ;  she  lived  across  the 
river  from  the  city.  'Tis  but  a  year  ago  her  father 
died.  He  was  an  owner  of  steamboats.  She  made 
many  river  trips  with  him,  and  I  suppose  that  ex 
plains  how  she  knows  the  country  about  Baton  Rouge, 
Natchez,  Grand  Gulf,  Rodney,  better  than  she  knows 
the  city.  But  the  boats  are  gone  now;  some  turned 
into  gunboats,  one  burnt  when  the  city  fell,  another 
confiscated.  I  think  they  didn't  manage  her  bringing- 
up  very  well." 

"  Maybe  not,"  I  replied,  being  nothing  if  not  dis- 
108 


A  Quiet  Ride 


putatious,  "  and  she  does  strike  me  as  one  thrown  upon 
her  own  intuitions  for  everything ;  but  if  she's  the  lady 
she  is  entirely  by  her  own  personal  quality,  Lieutenant, 
she's  a  wonder !  " 

"  Ah,  but  she  is  a  wonder.  In  a  state  of  society  more 
finished--" 

"  She  would  be  incredible,"  I  said  for  him,  and  he 
accepted  the  clause  by  a  gesture,  and  after  a  meditative 
pause  went  on  with  her  history.  The  subject  of  our 
conversation  had  first  met  Oliver,  it  seemed,  when  by 
reason  of  some  daring  performance  in  the  military  field 
— near  Milliken's  Bend,  in  the  previous  autumn — he 
was  the  hero  of  the  moment.  Even  so  it  was  strange 
enough  that  he  should  capture  her ;  one  would  as  soon 
look  to  see  Vicksburg  fall ;  but  the  world  was  upside 
down,  everything  was  happening  as  if  in  a  tornado, 
and  he  cast  his  net  of  lies ;  lies  of  his  own,  and  lies  of 
two  or  three  match-making  friends  who  chose  to  be 
lieve,  at  no  cost  to  themselves,  that  war,  with  one  puff 
of  its  breath,  had  cleansed  him  of  his  vices  and  that 
marriage  would  complete  the  happy  change.  This  was 
in  Natchez,  Ferry  went  on  to  say.  Most  fortunately 
for  the  bride  one  of  the  bridegroom's  wedding  gifts 
was  a  certain  young  slave  girl;  before  the  wedding 
was  an  hour  past — before  the  orange-blossoms  were 
out  of  the  bride's  hair — this  slave  maid  had  told  her 
what  he  was,  "  And  you  know  what  that  is." 

We  rode  in  silence  while  I  tried  to  think  what  it 
must  be  to  a  woman  of  her  warmth — of  her  impulsive 
energies — to  be,  week  in,  week  out,  month  after  month, 
besieged  by  that  man's  law-protected  blandishments 

109 


The  Cavalier 

and  stratagems.    "  I  wish  you  would  use  me  in  her 
service  every  time  there  is  a  chance,"  I  said. 

"  The  chances  are  few,"  he  answered ;  "  even  to  Gen 
eral  Austin  she  laughs  and  says  we  must  let  the  story 
work  itself  out ;  that  she  is  the  fool  in  it,  but  there  is  a 
chance  for  the  fool  to  win  if  not  too  much  burdened 
with  help." 

"  How  did  you  make  her  acquaintance  ?  "  I  ventured 
to  ask. 

"  You  remember  the  last  time  the  brigade  was  in 
this  piece  of  country?  "  he  rejoined. 

I  did;  it  had  been  only  some  five  weeks  earlier; 
Grant  had  driven  us  through  Port  Gibson,  General 
Bowen  had  retired  across  the  north  fork  of  Bayou 
Pierre,  and  we  had  been  cut  off  and  forced  to  come 
down  here. 

"  Yes ;  well,  she  came  to  us  that  night,  round  the  ene 
my's  right,  with  a  letter  from  Major  Harper's  brother 
— he  was  then  in  New  Orleans — and  with  information 
of  her  own  that  saved  the  brigade.  I  had  just  got  my 
company.  I  took  it  off  next  morning  on  my  first  scout, 
whilst  the  brigade  went  to  Raymond.  She  was  my 
guide  all  that  day ;  six  times  she  was  my  guide  before 
the  end  of  May.  Yet  the  most  I  have  learned  about 
her  has  come  to  me  in  the  last  few  days." 

"  She  has  a  fearful  game  to  play." 

"  Oh ! — yes,  that  is  what  she  would  call  it ;  but  me, 
I  say — though  not  as  Gholson  would  mean  it,  you 
know, — she  has  a  soul  to  save.  If  it  is  a  game,  it  is  a 
very  delicate  one ;  let  her  play  it  as  nearly  alone  as  she 
can." 

no 


A   Quiet  Ride 


"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  a  man's  hand  in  it  would  be  only 
his  foot  in  it ;  "  and  Ferry  was  pleased.  He  scanned 
me  all  over  in  the  same  bright  way  he  had  done  it  in  the 
morning,  and  remarked  "  This  time  I  see  they  have 
given  you  a  carbine." 

We  went  down  into  some  low  lands,  crossed  a  creek 
or  two,  and  in  one  of  them  gave  our  horses  and  our 
selves  a  good  scrubbing.  On  a  dim  path  in  thick  woods 
we  paused  at  a  worm  fence  lying  squarely  across  our 
way.  It  was  staked  and  ridered  and  its  zig-zags  were 
crowded  with  brambles  and  wild-plum.  A  hundred 
yards  to  our  left,  still  overhung  by  the  woods,  it  turned 
south.  Beyond  it  in  our  front  lay  a  series  of  open 
fields,  in  which,  except  this  one  just  at  hand,  the  crops 
were  standing  high.  The  nearer  half  of  this  one,  a 
breadth  of  maybe  a  hundred  yards,  though  planted  in 
corn,  was  now  given  up  to  grass,  and  live-stock,  get 
ting  into  it  at  some  unseen  point,  had  eaten  and  tram 
pled  everywhere.  The  farther  half  was  thinly  covered 
with  a  poor  stand  of  cotton,  and  between  the  corn  and 
the  cotton  a  small,  trench-like  watercourse  crossed 
our  line  of  view  at  right  angles  and  vanished  in  the 
woods  at  the  field's  eastern  edge.  The  farther  border 
of  this  run  was  densely  masked  by  a  growth  of  brake- 
cane  entirely  lacking  on  the  side  next  us.  Between 
the  cotton  and  the  next  field  beyond,  a  double  line 
of  rail  fence  indicated  the  Fayette  and  Union  Church 
road.  Suddenly  Ferry  looked  through  his  field-glasses, 
and  my  glance  followed  the  direction  in  which  they 
were  pointed.  Dust  again  ;  one  can  get  tired  of  dust ! 
Some  two  miles  off,  a  little  southward  of  the  setting 

ill 


The  Cavalier 

sun,  a  golden  haze  of  it  floated  across  a  low  back 
ground  of  trees. 

"  'Tis  the  enemy,  I  think,"  he  said,  "  but  only  scouts, 
I  suppose." 

XXVI 

A  SALUTE  ACROSS  THE  DEAD-LINE 

I  WAS  not  seeking  enemies  just  then  and  was  not 
pleased.  "  Didn't  the  Yankees  fall  back  this  morning 
before  day  and  move  southward  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  For  what  would  they  do  that  ? "  inquired  my 
leader,  still  using  the  glass,  but  before  I  could  reply  he 
gave  a  soft  hiss,  dropped  the  glass,  and  turned  his  un 
aided  eye  upon  a  point  close  beyond  our  field,  in  the 
road.  Now  again  he  lifted  the  glass,  and  I  saw  over 
there  two  small,  black,  moving  objects.  They  passed 
behind  some  fence-row  foliage,  reappeared  nearer,  and 
suddenly  bobbed  smartly  up  to  the  roadside  fence — the 
dusty  hats  of  two  Federal  horsemen.  The  wearers  sat 
looking  over  into  the  field  between  them  and  us.  I 
asked  Ferry  if  he  wasn't  afraid  they  would  see  us. 

"  That  is  what  we  want,"  was  his  reply ;  "  only,  they 
must  not  know  we  want  it.  Keep  very  still;  don't 
move."  At  that  word  they  espied  us  and  galloped 
back. 

We  turned  to  our  left  and  hurried  along  our  own 
fence-line,  first  eastward,  then  south,  and  reined  up  be 
hind  some  live  brush  at  the  edge  of  the  public  road. 
"  Soon  know  how  many  they  are,  now,"  he  said,  smil 
ing  back  at  me. 

112 


A  Salute  Across  the  Dead-Line 

"Are  you  going  to  count  them?"  It  seemed  so 
much  easier  to  let  them  count  us. 

"  Yes/*  he  replied.  "  Wish  we  had  our  boys  here," 
he  added,  and  did  not  need  to  tell  me  how  he  would 
have  posted  them ;  the  place  was  so  favorable  for  an 
ambush  that  those  Yankees  had  no  doubt  been  looking 
for  us  before  they  saw  us.  Half  of  us  would  be  in  the 
locks  of  these  highroad  fences  to  lure  them  on,  and 
half  in  the  little  gully  masked  with  canes  to  take  them 
in  the  flank.  "  We  would  count  many  times  our  own 
number  before  they  should  pass,"  he  added. 

"  Can't  we  make  them  think  our  men  are  here  ?  "  I 
suggested.  "  Couldn't  I  go  back  to  where  this  fence 
crosses  the  gully  and  let  them  see  me  opening  a  gap 
in  it?" 

He  was  amused.  "  Go  if  you  want;  but  be  quick; 
here  they  come  already,  a  small  bunch  of  them." 

By  the  time  I  reached  the  spot  they  were  in  plain 
view,  six  men  and  an  officer.  I  leaped  to  the  ground, 
tugged  at  a  rail  and  threw  one  end  off.  I  thought  I 
had  never  handled  rails  so  heavy  and  slippery  in  my 
life.  As  I  got  a  second  one  down  I  looked  across  to 
the  road.  The  officer  was  distributing  his  men.  Barely 
a  mile  behind  was  the  dust  of  their  column.  The  third 
rail  stuck  and  the  sweat  began  to  pour  down  into  my 
eyes  and  collar.  Two  of  the  blue-coats  easily  let  down 
a  panel  of  fence  on  the  far  side  of  the  road  and  pushed 
into  the  tall  corn ;  three  others  came  galloping  across 
the  thin  cotton  to  reconnoitre  the  fringe  of  canes ;  the 
officer  and  the  remaining  man  cantered  on  up  the  road 
toward  the  spot  where  I  could  see  Ferry  observing 


The  Cavalier 

everything  from  the  saddle  behind  his  mask  of  leaves. 
Of  a  sudden  the  Federal  commander  descried  me 
wildly  at  work.  He  paused  and  pointed  me  out  to  the 
man  at  his  back,  but  had  no  glass  and  seemed  puzzled. 
At  his  word  the  man  pricked  up  to  the  fence  to  come 
over  it,  but  his  horse  was  of  another  mind,  and  the  im 
patient  officer,  crowding  him  away,  cleared  the  fence 
himself  and  came  across  the  furrows  at  a  nimble  trot. 
Still  I  tussled  with  the  rails,  and  grew  peevish.  The 
enemy  was  counted,  closely  enough !  one  troop.  Their 
dust  showed  it,  the  small  advance  guard  proved  it. 

"  Hello !  "  called  the  Federal  officer,  "  who  are  you, 
over  there  ?  " 

He  might  have  known  by  looking  a  trifle  more  nar 
rowly  ;  I  saw  plainly,  thrillingly,  who  he  was ;  but  his 
attention  was  diverted  by  some  signal  from  the  men  he 
had  sent  to  the  fringe  of  cane;  they  had  found  the 
tracks  of  horses  leading  through  the  canes  into  the 
corn.  But  now  he  hailed  me  again.  "  Here,  you ! 
what  are  you  doing  at  that  fence  ?  Who  are  you  ?  " 

He  was  within  easy  range  and  was  still  trotting 
nearer.  I  snatched  up  my  carbine,  aimed,  and  then  re 
covered,  looking  sharply  to  my  left  as  if  restrained  by 
the  command  of  some  one  behind  the  canes.  The 
Federal's  cool  daring  filled  me  with  admiration.  Had 
the  foes  he  was  looking  for  been  actually  in  hiding 
here  they  could  have  picked  him  out  of  his  saddle  like 
a  bird  off  a  bush.  His  only  chance  was  that  they  would 
not  let  themselves  be  teased  into  firing  prematurely 
on  any  one  man  or  six.  Ferry  beckoned  me.  I  mount 
ed  and  trotted  down  the  woods  side  of  the  fence,  at  the 

114 


A  Salute  Across  the  Dead-Line 

same  time  the  Federal's  six  men  approached  from  three 
jirections,  and  down  the  road  the  main  column  entered 
upon  the  scene. 

The  officer  halted  with  revolver  drawn  and  sent  a 
man  back  with  some  order  to  the  main  body.  And 
then  Ferry's  beautiful  brown  horse,  as  though  of  his 
own  choice,  reared  straight  up  where  he  stood,  dropped 
his  forelegs  upon  his  breast,  rose,  over  the  fence,  master 
and  all,  as  unlaboriously  as  a  kite,  trotted  out  from 
the  brush  and  halted  in  the  open  field.  His  rider's 
outdrawn  sword  flashed  to  the  setting  sun.  The  Fed 
eral,  pointing  here  and  there  was  deploying  his  remain 
ing  five  men  toward  the  spot  I  had  left,  but  glancing 
round  and  seeing  Ferry  he  trotted  toward  him.  There 
upon  Ferry  advanced  at  a  walk,  and  I — for  I  had  fol 
lowed  him — moved  at  the  same  gait  a  few  paces  be 
hind.  "  Halt  him,"  said  my  leader. 

"  Halt !  "  I  yelled  with  carbine  at  a  ready,  and  the 
Federal  halted.  In  fact  he  had  come  to  a  small  hollow 
full  of  bushes  and  grapevines  and  had  no  choice  but  to 
halt  or  go  round  it. 

"  Don't  swallow  him,"  said  Ferry,  smilingly,  "  this 
isn't  your  private  war." 

"  He's  on  my  private  horse !  "  I  retorted. 

"  Well,  you're  on  his/'  replied  my  commander.  The 
giant  before  us,  mounted  on  Cricket,  was  my  prisoner 
of  the  previous  day. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  he  was  calling  imperiously. 

"  Captain  Jewett  ought  to  know,"  Ferry  called  back, 
and  on  that  the  questioner  recognized  us  both.  He  be 
came  very  stately. 

US 


The  Cavalier 

"  Lieutenant  Durand,  I  believe." 

"  At  times,"  said  Lieutenant  Durand. 

"  And  at  other  times—?  " 

"  Lieutenant  Ferry — Ferry's  scouts." 

The  Federal  expanded  with  surprise  and  then  with 
austere  pleasure.  He  glanced  toward  his  five  men 
galloping  back  to  him  having  found  no  enemy,  and 
then  at  his  column,  which  had  just  halted.  Frowning, 
he  motioned  the  advance  guard  to  the  road  again  and 
once  more  hailed  Ferry  while  he  pointed  at  me.  He 
straightened  and  swelled  still  more  as  he  began  his 
question,  but  as  he  finished  it  a  smile  went  all  over 
him.  "  Is  that  your  entire  present  force  ?  " 

"  It  is." 

"  Then  what  the  devil  do  you  want  ?  "  he  thundered. 

"  We  have  what  we  wanted,"  said  Ferry,  "  only  now 
we  desire  to  cross  the  road." 

"  You're  not  asking  my  permission  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  not." 

"  I  admit  you  are  quite  able  to  cross  without." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Ferry ;  "  will  you  pardon  me  for 
passing  in  front  of  you  ?  " 

The  Federal's  pistol  slid  into  its  holster  and  his  sabre 
flashed  out.  He  threw  its  curved  point  up  in  a  splendid 
salute.  Ferry  saluted  with  his  straight  blade.  Then 
both  swords  rang  back  into  their  scabbards,  and  Jewett 
whirled  away  toward  his  column.  For  a  moment  we 
lingered,  then  faced  to  the  left,  trotted,  galloped.  Over 
the  fence  and  into  the  road  went  he — went  I.  Down 
it,  as  we  crossed,  the  blue  column  was  just  moving 
again.  Then  the  woods  on  the  south  swallowed  us  up. 

116 


Some  Fall,  Some  Plunge 

"  If  Captain  Jewett  will  only  go  on  to  Union 
Church,"  said  Ferry,  "  Quinn  will  see  that  he  never 
gets  back/' 

"  But  you  think  he  will  not  go  on  ?  " 

"  Ah,  now  he  is  discovered,  surely  not.  I  think  he 
will  turn  back  at  Wiggins." 

"  Why  Wiggins?  does  he  know  Coralie  Rothvelt?" 

"  Yes,  he  does ;  and  if  since  last  night  he  has  maybe 
found  out  she  is  Charlotte  Oliver, " 

"  Oh !  Lieutenant  Ferry,  oh !  would  such  a  man  as 
that  come  hunting  down  a  woman,  with  a  troop  of 
cavalry  ?  " 

"  He  is  not  hunting  her ;  yet,  should  he  find  her,  I 
have  the  fear  he  would  do  his  duty  as  a  soldier,  any- 
how.  No,  he  was  looking,  I  think,  for  Ferry's  scouts." 

"  But  if  she  should  be  at  Wiggins—" 

My  leader  smiled  at  my  simplicity.  "  She  is  not  at 
Wiggins." 

"Where  is  she?" 

"  I  do  not  know." 


XXVII 

SOME  FALL,   SOME   PLUNGE 

AT  a  farm-house  well  hidden  in  the  woods  of  a  creek 
we  got  a  brave  supper  for  the  asking  and  had  our 
uniforms  wonderfully  cleaned  and  pressed,  and  at  ten 
that  evening  we  dismounted  before  the  three  brightly 
illumined  tents  of  General  Austin,  Major  Harper  and 

117 


The  Cavalier 

that  amiable  cipher  our  Adjutant-general.  On  the 
front  of  the  last  the  shadow  of  a  deeply  absorbed  writer 
showed  through  the  canvas,  and  Ferry  murmured  to 
me  "  The  ever  toiling."  It  was  Scott  Gholson.  I  had 
heard  the  same  name  for  him  the  evening  before,  from 
her  whose  own  lovely  shadow  fell  so  visibly  and  so 
often  upon  the  bright  curtain  of  Ned  Ferry's  thought. 

My  leader  went  in  while  I  held  our  horses.  Then 
he  and  Gholson  came  out  and  entered  the  General's 
tent;  from  which  Gholson  soon  emerged  again  and 
sent  an  orderly  away  into  the  gloom  of  the  sleeping 
camp,  and  I  heard  a  small  body  of  men  mount  and  set 
off  northward.  Presently  Ferry  came  out  and  sent  me 
in,  and  to  my  delight  I  found,  on  standing  before  the 
General,  that  I  did  not  need  to  tell  what  Charlotte 
Oliver  wanted  kept  back. 

"  No,  never  mind  that,"  he  said,  "  Miss  Rothvelt  was 
here  and  saw  me  this  afternoon,  herself."  Up  to  the 
point  of  my  arrival  at  the  bridge  I  had  merely  to  fum 
ble  my  cap  and  answer  his  crisp  questions.  But  there 
he  lighted  a  fresh  cigar  and  said  "  Now,  go  on." 

Gholson  dropped  in  with  something  to  be  signed,  and 
the  General  waved  him  to  wait  and  hear.  For  Gholson, 
despite  the  sappy  fetor  of  his  mental  temperament, 
had  abilities  that  made  him  almost  a  private  secretary 
to  the  General.  Who,  nevertheless,  knew  him  thor 
oughly.  When  I  had  described  Oliver's  escape  and 
would  have  hurried  on  to  later  details,  General  Austin 
raised  a  hand. 

"  Hold  on ;  you  say  nearly  everybody  fired  at 
Oliver ;  who  did  not  ?  " 

III 


Some  Fall,  Some  Plunge 

"  I  did  not,  General." 

"  Did  Lieutenant  Ferry  fire?  " 

I  said  he  did  not.  The  General  turned  his  strong 
eyes  to  Gholson's  and  kept  them  there  while  he  took 
three  luxurious  puffs  at  his  cigar.  Then  he  took  the 
waiting  paper,  and  as  he  wrote  his  name  on  it  he  said, 
smiling,  "  I  wish  you  had  been  in  Lieutenant  Ferry's 
place,  Mr.  Gholson ;  you  would  have  done  your  duty." 

The  flattered  Gholson  received  the  signed  paper  and 
passed  out,  and  the  General  smiled  again,  at  his  back. 
I  hope  no  one  has  ever  smiled  the  same  way  at  miner 

Ferry  and  I  slept  side  by  side  that  night,  and  he  told 
me  two  companies  of  our  Louisianians  were  gone  to 
cut  off  Jewett  and  his  band.  "  Still,  I  think  they  will 
be  much  too  late,"  he  said,  and  when  I  rather  violently 
turned  the  conversation  aside  to  the  subject  of  Scott 
Gholson,  saying,  to  begin  with,  that  Gholson  had  won 
derful  working  powers,  he  replied,  "  'Tis  true.  Yet  he 
says  the  brigade  surgeon  told  him  to-day  he  is  on  the 
verge  of  a  nervous  break-down.'*  But  on  my  inquiring 
as  to  the  cause  of  our  friend's  condition,  my  bedmate 
pretended  to  be  asleep. 

We  rose  at  dawn  and  rode  eastward,  he  and  I  alone, 
some  fourteen  miles,  to  the  Sessions's,  where  the  dance 
had  been  two  nights  earlier.  On  entering  the  stable 
to  put  up  our  horses  we  suddenly  looked  at  each  other 
very  straight,  while  Ferry's  countenance  confessed 
more  pleasure  than  surprise,  though  a  touch  of  care 
showed  with  it.  "  I  did  not  know  this,"  he  said,  "  and 
J  did  not  expect  it." 

What  we  saw  was  the  leather-curtained  spring- 
119 


The  Cavalier 

wagon  and  its  little  striped-legged  mules.  The  old 
negro  in  charge  of  them  bowed  gravely  to  me  and 
smiled  affectionately  upon  Ferry.  About  an  hour  later 
Gholson  appeared.  He  took  such  hurried  pains  to 
explain  his  coming  that  any  fool  could  have  seen  the 
real  reason.  The  brigade  surgeon  had  warned  him — 
Oh!  had  I  heard?— Oh!  from  Ned  Ferry,  yes.  The 
cause  of  his  threatened  breakdown,  he  said,  was  the 
perpetual  and  fearful  grind  of  work  into  which  of  late 
he  had — fallen. 

"  Did  the  doctor  say  '  fallen '  ?  "  I  shrewdly  asked. 

"  No,  the  doctor  said  '  plunged,'  but— did  Ned  Fer' 
— who  put  that  into  your  head  ?  " 

"  Nobody ;  some  fall,  you  know,  some  plunge."  I 
did  not  ask  the  cause  of  the  plunge;  the  two  little 
mules  told  me  that.  He  would  never  have  come,  Ghol 
son  hurried  on  to  say,  had  not  Major  Harper  kindly 
suggested  that  a  Sabbath  spent  with  certain  four  ladies 
would  be  a  timely  preventive. 

"  What !  "  I  cried,  "  are  they  here  t'— too?  Why,— 
where's  their  carryall?  'Tisn't  in  the  stable;  I've 
looked!" 

"  No,  it  was  here,  but  yesterday,  when  the  fighting 
threatened  to  be  heavy,  it  was  sent  to  the  front.  Smith, 
I  didn't  know  Charlie  Tolliver  was  here !  " 

I  believed  him.  But  I  saw  he  was  not  in  search  of  a 
preventive.  Ah,  no !  he  was  ill  of  that  old,  old  malady 
which  more  than  any  other  abhors  a  preventive.  Wak 
ing  in  the  summer  dawn  and  finding  Ned  Ferry  risen 
and  vanished  hitherward,  a  m£alVrnstinct  had  moved 
him  to  follow,  as  the  seeker  for  wild  honey  foljows  the 

I2O 


Oldest  Game  on  Earth 

bee.  He  had  come  not  for  the  cure  of  his  honey-sick 
ness,  but  for  more — more — more — all  he  could  find — 
of  the  honey.  "  Smith,"  he  said,  with  a  painful  screw 
of  his  features,  "  I'm  mightily  troubled  about  Ned 
Ferry!" 

"  Yes,"  I  dishonestly  responded,  "  his  polished  ir- 
religion — " 

"  Oh,  no !  No,"  he  groaned,  "  it  isn't  that  so  much 
just  now,  though  I  know  that  to  a  true  religionist  like 
you  the  society  of  such  a  mere  romanticist — " 

We  were  interrupted. 

XXVIII 

OLDEST  GAME  ON   EARTH 

THE  cause  of  our  interruption  was  Camille  Harper. 
We  had  been  pacing  the  side  veranda  and  she  came  out 
upon  it  with  an  unconscious  song  on  her  lips,  and  on 
one  finger  a  tiny  basket. 

Her  gentle  irruption  found  me  standing  almost  on 
the  spot  where  she  had  stood  two  evenings  before  and 
said  good-bye  to  me.  From  this  point  a  path  led  to 
the  rear  of  the  house,  where  within  a  light  paling  fence 
bloomed  a  garden.  She  gave  us  a  blithe  good-morning 
as  she  passed,  descended  the  two  or  three  side  steps, 
and  tripped  toward  the  garden  gate,  a  wee  affair  which 
she  might  have  lifted  off  its  hinges  with  one  thumb.  I 
saw  her  try  its  latch  two  or  three  times  and  then  turn 
back  discomfited  because  the  loose  frame  had  sagged 
a  trifle  and  needed  to  be  raised  half  an  inch.  I  did  not 

121 


The  Cavalier 

understand  the  helplessness  of  girls  as  well  then  as  I 
do  now ;  I  ran  and  opened  the  gate ;  and  when  I  shut 
it  again  she  and  I  were  alone  inside. 

She  let  me  cut  the  flowers.  "  You  know  who's 
here?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,"  I  guilefully  replied,  "  I  came  with  him." 

"  I  don't  mean  Lieutenant  Ferry,"  she  responded, 
"  nor  anybody  you'd  ever  guess  if  you  don't  know ; 
but  you  do,  don't  you  ?  " 

I  said  I  knew  and  went  on  gathering  sweet-pea  blos 
soms. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  her?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  stepping  away  for  some  roses,  "  I 
— saw  her — by  chance — for  a  moment — she  was  in  the 
wagon  she's  got  here — last — eh, — Thursday — morn' 
— "  I  came  back  trimming  the  roses,  and  as  she 
reached  for  them  and  our  glances  met,  she  laughed 
and  replied,  with  a  roguish  droop  of  the  head — 

"  She  told  us  about  it.  And  you  needn't  look  so 
disturbed ;  she  only  praised  you." 

Still  I  frowned.  "  How  does  it  come  that  she's  here, 
anyhow  ?  " 

"  Why !  she's  got  to  be  everywhere !  She's  a  war- 
correspondent  !  She  was  at  the  front  yesterday  nearly 
the  whole  time,  near  enough  to  see  some  of  the  fight 
ing,  and  to  hear  it  all !  she  calls  it '  only  a  skirmish' ! " 

"  When  did  she  get  here  ?  " 

"  About  five  in  the  morning.  But  we  didn't  see  her 
then;  she  shut  herself  up  and  wrote  and  wrote  and 
wrote !  They  say  she  runs  the  most  daring  risks !  And 
they  say  she's  so  wise  in  finding  out  what  the  Yankees 

122 


Oldest  Game  on  Earth 

are  going-  to  do  and  why  they're  going  to  do  it,  that 
they'd  be  nearly  as  glad  to  catch  her  as  to  catch  Lieu 
tenant  Ferry!  Didn't  you  know?  Ah,  you  knew!" 
She  attempted  a  reproachful  glance,  but  exhaled  hap 
piness  like  a  fragrance.  I  asked  how  she  had  heard 
these  things. 

"  How  did  I  hear  them  ?  Let  me  see.  Oh,  yes ! 
from — from  Harry." 

I  flinched  angrily.    "  From  what  ?  " 

She  looked  into  her  basket  and  fingered  its  flowers. 
"  That's  what  he  asked  me  to  call  him." 

I  stiffened  up  as  though  I  heard  a  thief  picking  the 
lock  of  my  lawful  treasure.  She  threw  me,  sidewise, 
a  bantering  smile  and  then  a  more  winsome  glance,  but 
I  refused  to  see  either.  I  burned  with  so  many  feelings 
at  once  that  I  could  no  more  have  told  them  than  I 
could  have  raised  a  tune.  "  Don't  you  like  him  ?  "  she 
asked,  and  tried  to  be  very  arch. 

"Like  whom?" 

"  You  know  perfectly  well,"  she  replied. 

"  No,  I  do  not  like  him.    Do  you  ?  " 

"  Why,— yes,— I  do.  I— I  thought  everybody  did." 
She  averted  her  face  and  toyed  with  the  sweet-pea 
vines.  Suddenly  she  gulped,  faced  me,  blinked  rapidly, 
and  said  "  If  I  oughtn't  to  call  him — that, — then  I 
oughtn't  to  have  called — "  she  dropped  her  eyes  and 
bit  her  lip. 

"  That,"  I  replied,  "  is  a  very  different  matter !  At 
least  I  had  hoped  it  was !  " 

Her  rejoinder  came  in  a  low,  grieved  monotone: 
"  Did  you  say  had  hoped  ?  " 

123 


The  Cavalier 

It  was  the  sweetest  question  my  ear  had  ever  caught, 
and  I  asked  her,  I  scarce  know  how,  if  I  might  still 
say  "  do  hope  ". 

"  Why,  I — I  didn't  know  you  ever  did  say  it.  I  don't 
see  that  I  have  any  right  to  forbid  you  saying  things 
— to — to  yourself." 

y  So  we  played  the  game — oldest  game  on  earth — and 
loveliest.  Bungling  moves  we  made,  as  you  see,  and 
sometimes  did  not  know  whose  move  it  was.  At  length 
she  admitted  that  this  is  a  very  unsafe  world  in  which 
to  be  kind  to  soldiers.  I  told  how  fickle  some  of  them 
were.  She  would  not  say  she  would — or  wouldn't — 
make  my  case  a  permanent  exception  or  a  solitary  one ; 
yet  with  me  she  blissfully  pooh-poohed  the  idea  that 
our  acquaintance  was  new,  she  being  so  wonderfully 
like  my  mother,  and  I  being  so  wonderfully  ditto,  ditto. 
And  when  I  burst  into  a  blazing  eulogy  of  my  mother, 
my  listener  gave  me  kinder  looks  than  I  ever  deserved 
of  any  woman  alive.  On  my  trying  to  reciprocate,  she 
asked  me  for  more  flowers  and  hurried  back  to  our 
earlier  theme. 

"And  really,  you  know,  they  say  she's  almost  as 
truly  a  scout  as  Ned  Fer' — as  Lieutenant  Ferry-Du- 
rand.  She's  from  New  Orleans,  you  know,  and  she's 
like  us,  half-Creole;  but  her  other  half  is  Highland 
Scotch — isn't  that  romantic !  When  she  told  us  about 
it  she  laughed  and  said  it  explained  some  things  in  her 
which  nothing  else  could  excuse  I  Wasn't  that  funny ! 
— oh,  pshaw !  it  doesn't  sound  a  bit  funny  as  I  tell  it, 
but  she  said  it  in  such  a  droll  way!  She  was  so  full 
of  fun  and  frolic  that  day !  You  can't  conceive  how  full 

124 


Oldest  Game  on  Earth 

of  them  she  is — sometimes ;  how  soberly  she  can  say 
the  funniest  things,  and  how  funnily  she  can  say  the 
soberest  things !  " 

"  You  say  she  was  so  full  of  fun  that  day ;  what 
day?" 

The  young  thing  gaped  at  me,  gasped,  and  melted 
half  to  the  ground :  "  O — oh— I've  let  it  out !  " 

"  Yes,  you  may  as  well  go  right  on,  now." 

She  straightened  to  her  toes,  covered  her  open 
mouth  an  instant,  and  then  said  "  Yes,  we  knew  her — 
at  our  house — in  New  Orleans — poor  New  Orleans ! 
Your  mother — oh,  your  splendid,  lovely  little  mother  is 
such  a  brave  Confederate !  " 

"  My  mother  brought  her  to  your  house?  " 

"  Yes,  oh,  yes !  and  that's  why  it  isn't  wrong  to  tell 
you.  Charlotte's  been  three  times  through  the  lines, 
to  and  from  the  city;  once  by  way  of  Natchez  and 
twice  through  Baton  Rouge.  And  oh,  the  things  she's 
brought  out  to  our  poor  boys  in  the  hospitals !  " 

"  Generals'  uniforms,  for  example  ?  " 

"  Oh,  now  you're  real  mean !  No !  what  she's  brought 
the  most  of  is — guess!  You'll  never  guess  it  in  the 
world!" 

"  Hindoo  grammars ! — No  ?  Well,  then, — perfum 
ery!" 

"  Ah,  you !  No,  I'll  tell  you."  She  spoke  prudently ; 
I  had  to  bow  my  ear  so  close  that  it  tingled :  "  Dolls !  " 

My  amazement  was  genuine.  "  For  our  sick  sol 
diers!"  I  sighed. 

Her  eyes  danced;  she  leaned  away  and  nodded. 
Then  she  drew  nearer  than  before:  "Dolls!"  she 

125 


The  Cavalier 

murmured  again ; — "  and  pincushions ! — and  emeries ! 
— and  '  rats '  !  you  know,  for  ladies'  hair — and  chig 
non-cushions  I " 

"  For  our  sick  soldiers !  " 

"  Yes ! — stuffed  with  quinine !  "  She  laughed  in  her 
handkerchief  till  the  smell  of  the  sweet-peas  was  lost 
in  the  odor  of  frangipani,  and  she  staggered  almost  into 
my  arms.  But  that  sobered  her.  "  And  when  we  speak 
of  the  risk  she  runs  of  being  sent  to  Ship  Island  she 
laughs  and  says,  *  Life  is  strife/  She  says  she'd  like 
it  long,  but  she's  got  to  have  it  broad." 

"  Life  is  strife  indeed  to  her,"  I  said. 

"  Oh !  do  you  know  that  too  ? — and  another  reason 
she  gives  for  taking  those  awful  risks  is  that  '  it's  the 
best  use  she  can  make  of  her  silly  streak ' — as  if  she 
had  any  such  thing !  " 

"  Why  did  my  mother  bring  her  to  you  ?  " 

"Oh!  she  had  letters  from  uncle  to  aunt  Martha! 
He  thinks  she's  wonderful !  " 

"  Does  your  father  think  so,  too  ?  " 

"  My  father  ?  no ;  but  he's  prejudiced !  That's  one 
of  the  things  I  can  never  understand — why  nearly  all 
the  girls  I  know  have  such  prejudiced  fathers." 


A  Gnawing  in  the  Dark 

XXIX 

A  GNAWING  IN  THE  DARK 

ON  our  return  to  the  veranda,  Camille  and  I,  we 
found  on  its  front  the  house's  entire  company  except 
only  the  children  of  the  family.  Mrs.  Sessions,  Estelle 
and  Cecile  formed  one  group,  Squire  Sessions  and 
Charlotte  Oliver  made  a  pair,  and  Ferry  and  Miss 
Harper  another.  Our  posies  created  a  lively  demon 
stration;  Camille  yielded  them  to  Estelle,  and  Estelle 
took  them  into  the  house  to  arrange  them  in  water. 
Gholson  went  with  her ;  it  was  painful  to  see  her  zest  for 
his  society. 

Miss  Harper  "  knocked  me  down,"  as  we  boys  used 
to  say,  to  Charlotte  Oliver ;  "  Charlotte,  my  dear,  you 
already  know  Mr.  Smith,  I  believe  ?  " 

I  had  expected  to  see  again,  and  to  feel,  as  well,  the 
starry  charms  of  Coralie  Rothvelt;  but  what  I  con 
fronted  was  far  different.  The  charms  were  here,  un- 
quenched  by  this  stare  of  daylight,  but  from  them  shone 
a  lustre  of  womanliness  wholly  new.  It  seemed  to 
grow  on  even  when  a  tricksy  gleam  shot  through  it  as 
she  replied,  "Yes,  our  acquaintance  dates  from  Gal- 
latin." 

With  a  spasm  of  eagerness  I  said  it  did :  "  Our  ac- 
quai' — hh — Gallatin — hh — "  But  my  soul  cried  like 
a  culprit,  "  No,  no,  it  begins  only  now !  "  and  my  whole 
being  stood  under  arrest  before  the  accusing  truth  that 

127 


The  Cavalier 

from  Gallatin  till  now  my  acquaintance  had  been  solely 
with  that  false  phase  of  her  which  I  knew  as  Coralie 
Rothvelt.  At  the  same  her  kind  eyes  sweetly  granted 
me  a  stripling's  acquittal — oh!  why  did  it  have  to  be 
a  stripling's  ? 

Wonderful  eyes  she  had ;  deep  blue,  as  I  have  said, 
in  color ;  black,  in  spirit ;  never  so  wonderful  as  when 
having  sparkled  black  they  quieted  to  blue  again.  Al 
ways  then  there  came  the  slightest  of  contractions  at 
the  outer  corners  of  the  delicate  lids,  that  gave  a  four 
fold  expression  of  thought,  passion,  tenderness  and  in 
trepidity.  I  never  saw  that  silent  meaning  in  but  one 
other  pair  of  eyes ;  wherever  it  turned  it  said — at  the 
same  time  saying  many  other  things  but  saying  this 
always  plainest — "  I  see  both  out  and  in ;  I  know  my 
self — and  thee."  Never  but  in  one  other  pair  of  eyes  ? 
no;  and  whose  were  those?  Ned  Ferry's. 

"Don't  you  love  to  see  Charlotte  and  him  look  at 
each  other  in  that  steady  way  when  they're  talking 
together  ?  "  Camille  asked  me  later.  But  rather  coldly 
I  inquired  why  I  should ;  I  felt  acutely  enough  with 
out  admitting  it  to  Camille,  that  Charlotte  and  Ferry 
were  meeting  on  ground  far  above  me ;  and  when  Ghol- 
son,  in  his  turn,  called  to  my  notice,  in  Charlotte's  case, 
this  unique  gaze,  and  contrasted  it  with  her  beautiful 
yet  strangely  childish  mouth,  I  asked  a  second  time  why 
she  was  here,  anyhow. 

"  She's  here,"  murmured  Gholson,  "  because  she  has 
to  live !  To  live  she  must  have  means,  Smith,  and  to 
have  means  she  must  either  get  them  herself  or  she 
must — "  and  again  he  poised  his  hand  horizontally 

128 


A  Gnawing  in  the  Dark 

across  his  mouth  and  whispered  — "  live  with  her 
hus'— " 

I  jerked  my  head  away — "Yes,  yes."  Scott  Ghol- 
son  was  the  only  one  of  us  who  could  give  that  wretch 
that  title.  "  Gholson,"  I  said,  for  I  kept  him  plied 
with  questions  to  prevent  his  questioning  me,  "  how 
did  that  man  ever  get  her?  " 

The  rest  of  the  company  were  going  into  the  house ; 
he  glanced  furtively  after  them  and  grabbed  my  arm ; 
you  would  have  thought  he  was  about  to  lay  bare  the 
whole  tragedy  in  five  words  -.  "  Smith,  —  nobody 
knows!" 

"  Do  you  believe  she  has  toid  Ned  Ferry  any 
thing?" 

"Never!  About  herself?  no,  sfa  I "  He  bent  and 
whispered :  "  She  despises  him ;  she  keeps  in  with  him, 
but  it's  to  get  the  news,  that's  all ;  that's  positively  all." 
On  our  way  to  the  stable  to  saddle  up — for  we  were  all 
going  to  church — he  told  me  what  he  knew  of  her 
story.  I  had  heard  it  all  and  more,  but  I  listened 
with  unfeigned  interest,  for  he  recited  it  with  flashes 
of  heat  and  rancor  that  betrayed  a  cruel  infatuation 
eating  into  his  very  bone  and  brain,  the  guilt  of  which 
was  only  intensified  by  the  sour  legality  of  his  moral 
sense. 

The  church  we  went  to  was  in  Franklin,  but  the 
preacher  was  a  man  of  note,  a  Vicksburg  refugee.  On 
the  way  back  Gholson  and  I  rode  for  a  time  near 
enough  to  Squire  Sessions  and  Ned  Ferry  to  know  the 
sermon  was  being  discussed  by  them,  and  something 
they  said  gave  my  companion  occasion  to  murmur  to 

129 


The  Cavalier 

me  in  a  tone  of  eager  censure  that  Ned  Ferry's  morals 
were  better  than  his  religion. 

I  said  I  wished  mine  were. 

"  Ah,  Smith,  be  not  deceived !  Whenever  you  see  a 
man  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  while  he 
neglects  the  regularly  appointed  means  of  grace,  you 
know  there's  something  wrong,  don't  you?  He  went 
to  church  this  morning — of  course;  but  how  often 
does  he  go?  What's  wrong  with  our  dear  friend — I 
don't  like  to  say  it,  for  I  admire  him  so;  I  don't  like 
to  say  it,  and  I  never  have  said  it,  but,  Smith, — Ned 
Ferry's  a  romanticist.  We  are  relig' — what  ?  " 

"  O— oh,  nothing !  " 

At  one  point  our  way  sloped  down  to  a  ramshackle 
wooden  bridge  that  spanned  a  narrow  bit  of  running 
water  at  the  edge  of  a  wood.  Beyond  it  the  road  led  out 
between  two  fields  whose  high  worm-fences  made  it  a 
broad  lane.  The  farther  limit  of  this  sea  of  sunlight 
was  the  grove  that  hid  the  Sessions  house  on  the  left; 
on  the  right  it  was  the  woods-pasture  in  which  lay  con* 
cealed  a  lily-pond.  As  Gholson  and  I  crossed  the 
bridge  we  came  upon  a  most  enlivening  view  of  our 
own  procession  out  in  the  noonday  blaze  before  us; 
the  Sessions  buggy ;  then  Charlotte'  little  wagon ;  next 
the  Sessions  family  carriage  full  of  youngsters;  and 
lastly,  on  their  horses,  Squire  Sessions — tall,  fleshy, 
clean-shaven,  silver-haired — and  Ned  Ferry.  Mrs.  Ses 
sions  and  Miss  Harper,  in  the  buggy,  were  just  going 
by  a  big  white  gate  in  the  right-hand  fence,  through 
which  a  private  way  led  eastward  to  the  lily-pond.  A 
happy  sight  they  were,  the  children  in  the  rear  vehicle 

130 


A  Gnawing  in  the  Dark 

waving  handkerchiefs  back  at  us,  and  nothing  in  the 
scene  made  the  faintest  confession  that  my  pet  song, 
which  I  was  again  humming,  was  pat  to  the  hour : 

"  To  the  lairds  o'  Convention  'twas  Claverhouse  spoke, 
Ere  the  sun  shall  go  down  there  are  heads  to  be  broke." 

"  Gholson,  if  it  isn't  Ned  Ferry's  religion  that's  wor 
rying  you  just  now  about  him,  what  is  it?" 

My  companion  looked  at  me  as  if  what  he  must  say 
was  too  large  for  his  throat.  He  made  a  gesture  of 
lament  toward  Ferry  and  broke  out,  "  O — oh  Smith," 
— nearly  all  Gholson's  oh's  were  groans — "  why  is  he 
here  ?  The  scout  is  '  the  eyes  of  the  army ' !  a  man 
whose  perpetual  vigilance  at  the  very  foremost  front — " 

fs  Why,  what  do  you  mean  ?  You  know  we're  here 
to  rejoin  the  company  as  it  comes  down  from  Union 
Church  to  camp  here  to-night.  That's  what  we're  here 
for." 

"  Yes, — yes, — but,  oh,  don't  you  see,  Smith  ?  For 
you,  yourself,  that's  all  right ;  you've  got  to  stay  with 
him,  and  I'm  glad  you  have.  But  he — oh  why  did  he 
not  go  on  hours  ago,  to  meet  them  ?  " 

"  Why  should  he  ?  Isn't  it  good  to  leave  one's  lieu 
tenant  sometimes  in  command ;  isn't  it  bad  not  to  ?  " 

Gholson's  eyes  turned  green.  "  Does  Ned  Ferry 
give  that  as  his  reason  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  asked  his  reason ;  I've  asked  you  a 
question." 

"  Well,  I'll  answer  it.  Do  you  think  Jewett  has  run 
back  into  his  own  lines  ?  " 

"Of  course  I  do,  and  Ned  Ferry  does ;  don't  you  ?  " 

131 


The  Cavalier 

"  No !  Smith,  there  ain't  a  braver  man  in  Grant's 
army  than  that  one  right  now  a-straddle  of  your  horse. 
Why,  just  the  way  he  got  your  horse  night  before — " 

"  Oh,  hang  him  and  the  horse !  you've  told  me  that 
three  times ;  what  of  it  ?  " 

"  Smith,  he's  out  here  to  make  a  new  record  for  him 
self,  at  whatever  cost !  " 

"  And  do  you  imagine  Ned  Ferry  hasn't  thought  of 
that?" 

"  Ah-h,  there  are  times  when  a  man  hasn't  got  his 
thinking  powers ;  you  ought  to  know  that,  Smith, — " 

"  Mr.  Gholson,  what  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  Oh !  I  certainly  didn't  mean  anything  against  you, 
Smith.  Why  is  your  manner  so  strange  to  me  to 
day?  Oh,  Smith,  if  you  knew  what — if  I  could  speak 
to  you  in  sacred  confidence — I — I  wouldn't  injure  Ned 
Ferry  in  your  eyes,  nor  in  anybody's;  I  only  tell  you 
what  I  do  tell  so  you  may  help  me  to  help  him.  But 
he's  staying  here,  Smith,  and  keeping  you  here,  to  be 
near  one  whose  name — without  her  a-dreaming  of  it 
— is  already  coupled  with — why, — why,  what  made  you 
start  that  a-way  again,  Smith  ?  " 

"  Nothing ;  I  didn't  start.  '  Coupled  with  some 
body's  name,'  you  say.  With  whose?  Go  on." 

"  With  his,  Smith,  and  most  injuriously.  He's  here 
to  tempt  her  to  forget  she's  not — "  He  faltered. 

"  Free  ?  "  said  I,  and  he  nodded  with  tragic  solem 
nity. 

"  You  know  who  I  mean,  of  course  ?  " 

"  Certainly ;  you  mean  Mrs.  Sessions." 

He  shook  his  head  bitterly. 

132 


A  Gnawing  in  the  Dark 

"  Oh,  well,  then,  of  course  I  know.  How  am  I  to 
help  you  to  help  him ;  help  him  to  do  what  ?  " 

"  O — oh !  to  tear  himself  away  from  her,  Smith.  I 
want  you  to  appeal  to  him.  He's  taken  a  great  shine 
to  you.  You  can  appeal  to  his  feeling  for  romance — 
poetry — whatever  he  calls  his  hell-fired — I  mean  his 
unfortunate  impiety.  You  know  how,  and  I  don't. 
And  there  you  reach  the  foundations  of  his  character, 
as  far  as  it's  got  any ;  there's  his  conscience  if  it's  any 
where!" 

I  find  myself  giving  but  a  faint  impression  of  the 
spirit  in  which  Gholson  spoke;  it  went  away  beyond 
a  mere  backbiting  mood  and  became  a  temper  so 
vindictive  and  so  venomously  purposeful  that  I  was 
startled ;  his  condition  seemed  so  fearfully  like  that  of 
the  old  paralytic  when  he  whined  "  That's  not  our  way." 

"  Smith,"  my  companion  went  on,  "  we  ought  to 
protect  Ned  Ferry  from  himself ! "  The  words  came 
through  his  clenched  teeth.  "  And  even  more  we  ought 
to  protect  her.  Who's  to  do  it  if  we  don't?  Smith,  I 
believe  Provi-dence  has  been  a-preparing  you  to  do  this, 
all  through  these  last  three  nights  and  days ! " 

He  looked  at  me  for  an  answer  until  I  became  fright 
ened.  Was  my  late  folly  known  to  this  crawling  ma- 
ligner  after  all  ?  A  sweet-scented  preparation  I've  had, 
thought  I,  but  aloud  I  said  only,  "  If  Ned  Ferry  clears 
out,  I  suppose  we  must  clear  out,  too." 

"  Why,  eh, — I — I  don't  know  that  my  move-ments 
need  have  anything  to  do  with  his.  Yours,  of 


course, — " 


Yes,"  I  interrupted,  beginning  to  boil. 
133 


The  Cavalier 

"  I  know,"  he  said,  "  that  comes  hard ;  you'll  have 
to  tear  yourself  away — " 

He  stared  at  me  and  hushed.  A  panic  was  surging 
through  me;  must  I  be  brought  to  book  by  such  as 
he  ?  "  Mr.  Gholson,"  I  cried,  all  scorn  without,  all 
terror  within ;  "  Mr.  Gholson,  I — Mr.  Gholson,  sir ! — " 
and  set  my  jaws  and  heaved  for  breath. 

"  Why,  Smith, — "    He  extended  a  soothing  hand. 

"  No  explanation,  sir,  if  you  please !  I  can  get  away 
from  here  without  tearing  myself,  which  is  more  than 
you  can  boast.  Any  fool  can  see  why  you  are  here. 
Stop,  I  take  that  back,  sir!  I  don't  play  tit-for-tat 
with  my  tongue." 

Gholson  turned  red  on  the  brow  and  ashen  about  the 
lips.  "  I  don't  call  that  tit-for-tat,  Mr.  Smith.  I  re 
mind  you  of  an  innocent  attachment  for  a  young  girl ; 
you  accuse  me  of  harboring  a  guilty  passion  for — " 
All  at  once  he  ceased  with  open  lips,  and  then  said 
as  he  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief,  "  Smith,  I  beg  your 
pardon!  We've  each  misunderstood  the  other;  I  see, 
now,  who  you  meant;  you  meant  Miss  Estelle  Har 
per!" 

"  Whom  else  could  I  mean  ?  "  Disdain  was  in  my 
voice,  but  he  ought  to  have  seen  the  falsehood  in  my 
eye,  for  I  could  feel  it  there. 

"  Of  course !  "  he  said ;  "  of  course !  But,  Smith,  my 
mind  was  so  full — just  for  the  moment,  you  know, — of 
her  we  were  speaking  of  in  connection  with  Ned  Ferry 
—  Do  you  know?  she's  so  unprotected  and  tagged 
after  and  talked  about  that  it  seems  to  me  sometimes, 
in  this  nervous  condition  of  mine,  that  if  I  could  catch 

'34 


Dignity  and  Impudence 

the  entire  gang  of  her  pursuers  in  one  hole  I'd — I'd 
end  'em  like  so  many  rats.  That  sort  of  feeling  is  mere 
impulse,  of  course,"  he  went  on,  "  and  only  shows  how 
near  I  am  to  that  nervous  breakdown.  Yes,  the  Harper 
ladies  are  mighty  lovely  and  hard  enough  to  leave,  but 
that's  all  I  meant  to  you,  and  I'm  sorry  I  touched  your 
feelings.  I'm  tchagrined.  Anyhow,  all  this  is  between 
us,  you  know.  I  wouldn't  ever  have  confessed  such 
feelings  as  I  did  just  now  except  to  a  friend  who  knows 
as  well  as  you  do  that  if  I  ever  should  do  a  man  a 
mortal  injury  I  wouldn't  do  it  in  a  spirit  of  resent-w^n#. 
You  know  that,  don't  you?  No,  that's  not  my  way 
— Why,  Smith,  what  gives  you  those  starts?  That's 
the  third  time  you've  done  that  this  morning." 

I  said  that  entering  the  cool  shade  of  the  Sessions 
grove  after  the  blazing  heat  of  that  long  lane  gave 
any  one  the  right  to  a  little  shudder,  and  as  we  turned 
toward  the  house  Gholson  murmured  "  If  you  say  you'll 
speak  to  Ned  as  I've  asked  you,  I'll  sort  o'  toll  Squire 
Sessions  off  with  me  so's  to  give  you  the  chance.  It's 
for  his  own  sake,  you  know,  and  you're  the  only  one 
can  do  it." 

XXX 

DIGNITY   AND   IMPUDENCE 

I  KNEW  Ned  Ferry  was  having  that  inner  strife  with 
which  we  ought  always  to  credit  even  Gholson's  sort, 
and  I  had  a  loving  ambition  to  help  him  "  take  the  up 
per  fork."  So  doing,  I  might  help  Charlotte  Oliver 
fulfil  the  same  principle,  win  the  same  victory.  When, 

135 


The  Cavalier 

erefore,  Gholson  put  the  question  to  me  squarely, 
Would  I  speak  to  Ferry  ?  I  consented,  and  as  the  four 
of  us,  horsemen,  left  our  beasts  in  the  stable  munching 
corn,  Gholson  began  a  surprisingly  animated  talk  with 
our  host,  and  Ferry,  with  a  quizzical  smile,  said  to  me 
"  Talk  with  you? — shall  be  happy  to;  we'll  just  make 
a  slight  detour  on  this  side  the  grove  and  woods-past 
ure,  eh?"  

He  meant  the  north  side,  opposite  that  one  by  which 
we  had  come  from  church.  Here  the  landscape  was 
much  the  same  as  there;  wide  fields  on  each  side  the 
fenced  highway  that  still  ran  north  and  south,  and 
woods  for  the  sky-line  everywhere.  We  chose  an  easy 
footpath  along  the  northern  fence  of  the  grove,  crossed 
the  highway,  and  passed  on  a  few  steps  alongside  the 
woods-pasture  fence.  We  talked  as  we  went,  he  giv 
ing  the  kindest  heed  to  my  every  word  though  I  could 
see  that,  like  any  good  soldier,  he  was  scanning  all  the 
ground  for  its  fighting  values,  and,  not  to  be  outdone, 
I,  myself,  pointed  out,  a  short  way  up  the  public  road, 
a  fence-gap  on  the  left,  made  by  our  camping  soldiers 
two  nights  before.  It  was  at  another  such  gap,  in  the 
woods-pasture  fence,  that  we  turned  back  by  a  path 
through  it  which  led  into  the  wood  and  so  again  toward 
the  highway  and  the  house-grove.  The  evening  Gen 
eral  Austin  sent  me  to  Wiggins  it  was  at  this  gap  that 
I  saw  old  Dismukes  sitting  cross-legged  on  the  ground, 
playing  poker ;  and  here,  now,  I  summoned  the  despera 
tion  to  speak  directly  to  my  point. 

I  had  already  tried  hard  to  get  something  said,  but 
had  found  myself  at  every  turn  entangled  in  general!* 

136 


Dignity  and  Impudence 

ties.  Now,  stammering  and  gagging  I  remarked  that 
our  experiences  of  the  morning,  both  in  church  and  out, 
had  in  some  way  combined  with  an  earlier  word  of  his 
own  to  me,  and  given  me  a  valuable  thought.  "  You 
remember,  when  I  wanted  to  shoot  that  Yankee  off 
my  horse  ?  " 

"Yes;  and  I  said— what?" 

"  You  said  '  This  isn't  your  private  war.'  Lieuten 
ant,  I  hope  those  words  may  last  in  my  memory  for 
ever  and  come  to  me  in  every  moral  situation  in  which 
I  may  find  myself." 

"  Yes?    Well,  I  think  that's  good." 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Lieutenant  Ferry,  that  in  every 
problem  of  moral  conduct  we  confront  we  really  hold 
in  trust  an  interest  of  all  mankind.  To  solve  that  prob 
lem  bravely  and  faithfully  is  to  make  life  just  so  much 
easier  for  everybody;  and  to  fail  to  do  so  is  to  make 
it  just  so  much  harder  to  solve  by  whoever  has  next 
to  face  it."  Whurroo !  my  blood  was  up  now,  let  him 
look  to  himself! 

"Yes?"  said  Ferry,  picking  at  the  underbrush  as 
we  sauntered,  and  for  some  time  he  said  no  more. 
Then  he  asked,  "  You  want  me  to  apply  that  to  my 
self,  in — in  the  present  case  ?  "  and  to  my  tender  amaze 
ment,  while  his  eyes  seemed  to  count  his  slackening 
steps,  he  laid  his  arm  across  my  shoulders. 

An  hour  of  avowal  could  not  have  told  me  more; 
could  not  have  filled  me  half  so  full  of  sympathy,  ad 
miration  and  love,  as  did  that  one  slight  motion.  It 
befitted  the  day,  a  day  outwardly  so  quiescent,  yet  in 
which  so  much  was  going  on.  A  realization  of  this 

137 


The  Cavalier 

quiet  activity  kept  us  silent  until  we  had  come  through 
the  woods-pasture  to  its  southern  border,  and  so 
through  the  big  white  field-gate  into  the  public  road; 
now  we  turned  up  toward  the  grove-gate,  and  here  I 
spoke  again.  "  Do  you  still  think  we  ought  to  wait 
here  for  the  command  ?  " 

That  from  a  private  soldier  to  his  captain !  Yet  all 
my  leader  answered  was  "  You  think  there's  cause  to 
change  our  mind  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  Lieutenant ;  do  you  think  Jewett  has 
run  back  into  his  own  lines  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  think  so;  and  you?" 

"Why,  eh, — Lieutenant,  I  don't  believe  there's  a 
braver  man  in  Grant's  army  than  that  one  a-straddle 
of  my  horse  to-day!  Why,  just  the  way  he  got  him, 
night  before  last, — you've  heard  that,  haven't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  General  told  me.    And  so  you  think — " 

"  Lieutenant,  I  can't  help  believing  he's  out  here  to 
make  a  new  record  for  himself,  at  whatever  cost ! " 

We  went  on  some  steps  in  silence  and  entered  the 
gate  of  the  house-grove;  and  just  as  Ferry  would  have 
replied  we  discovered  before  us  in  the  mottled  shade 
of  the  driveway,  with  her  arm  on  Cecile's  shoulders  as 
his  lay  on  mine,  and  with  her  eyes  counting  her  slack 
ening  steps,  Charlotte  Oliver.  They  must  have  espied 
us  already  out  in  the  highway,  for  they  also  were  turned 
toward  the  house,  and  as  we  neared  them  Charlotte 
faced  round  with  a  cheery  absence  of  surprise  and  said 
"  Mr.  Smith,  don't  we  owe  each  other  a  better  ac 
quaintance?  Suppose  we  settle  up." 

138 


The  Red  Star's  Warning 

XXXI 

THE  RED  STAR'S  WARNING 

IT  seemed  quite  as  undeniable,  as  we  stood  there,  that 
Ned  Ferry  owed  Cecile  a  better  acquaintance.  Every 
new  hour  enhanced  her  graces,  and  were  I,  here,  less  en 
grossed  with  her  companion,  I  could  pitch  the  praises 
of  Cecile  upon  almost  as  high  and  brilliant  a  key — • 
there  may  be  room  for  that  yet.  Ferry  moved  on  at 
her  side.  Charlotte  stayed  a  moment  to  laugh  at  a 
squirrel,  and  then  turned  to  walk,  saying  with  eyes 
on  the  earth — 

"  If  I  tell  you  something,  will  you  never  tell  ?  " 

I  looked  down  too.  "  Suppose  I  should  feel  sure  it 
ought  to  be  told." 

"If  you  wait  till  you  do  you  may  tell  it ;  that  will 
suit  me  well  enough." 

"  I  will  always  suit  you  the  best  I  can." 

"  I  don't  know  why  you  should,"  she  said. 

"  You  risked  your  life  to  save  mine ;  and  you  risked 
it  when  I  did  not  deserve  so  much  as  your  respect." 

"  Oh ! — we  must  never  talk  about  that  again,  Rich 
ard  ;  you  saw  me  in  the  evilest  guise  I  ever  wore,  and 
that  is  saying  much." 

"  But,"  I  responded,  "  you  put  it  on  for  a  better  rea 
son  than  you  could  tell  me  then  or  can  tell  me  now, 
though  now  I  know  your  story." 

"  Please  don't  forget,"  she  murmured,  "  that  you 
know  too  much." 

139 


The  Cavalier 

"  No,  no !  I  don't  know  half  enough ;  I  know  only 
what  Miss  Camilla  and — and — Gholson  could  tell  me," 
was  my  tricky  reply,  and  I  tried  to  look  straight  into 
her  eyes,  but  they  took  that  faint  introspective  con 
traction  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  gazed  through 
me  like  sunlight  through  glass.  Then  again  she  bent 
her  glance  upon  her  steps,  saying — 

"  Ah,  Richard,  you  have  found  out  all  you  could, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it,  except  of  what  I,  myself,  have  had 
to  betray  to  you;  for  that  was  more  than  one  would 
want  to  tell  her  twin  brother.  But  I  had  to  create  you 
my  scout,  and  I  had  only  two  or  three  hours  for  my 
whole  work  of  creation." 

"  Well,  you  completed  it."  We  went  on  some  steps, 
and  then  she  said — 

"  You  tell  me  I  risked  my  life  to  save  yours ;  I 
risked  more  than  life,  and  I  risked  it  for  more  than 
to  save  yours.  Yet  I  did  not  save  your  life ;  you  saved 
it,  yourself,  and — "  here  her  low  tone  thrilled  like  a 
harp-string  —  "you  risked  it  —  frightfully  —  at  that 
bridge — merely  to  save  the  promise  you  made  me  that 
you  need  not  have  made  at  all — oh,  you  needn't  shake 
your  head ;  I  know." 

"  Ah,  how  you  gild  my  base  metal !  " 

"  No,  no,  I  have  the  story  exactly,  and  from  one 
who  has  no  mind  to  praise  you." 

"From  Gholson?" 

"  Gholson !  no !  I  have  it  from  Lucius  Oliver,  who 
had  it  from  his  son.  He  told  me  carefully,  quietly  and 
entirely,  in  pure  spleen,  so  that  I  might  know  that  they 
know — think  they  know,  that  is, — why  you  and — he — 

140 


The  Red  Star's  Warning 

in  front  of  us  yonder — would  not  shoot  his  son 
when—" 

"  When  as  soldiers  it  was  our  simple  du' — " 

"  Yes ;  and  also  that  I  may  understand  that  he — the 
son — has  sworn  by  that  right  hand  you  mutilated  that 
the  *  pair  of  you '  shall  die  before  he  does." 

"  I  ought  not  to  have  shown  him  that  envelope  ad 
dressed  to  you." 

"  Ah,  but  if  it  saved  your  life !  " 

"  And  this  is  what  you  don't  want  me  to  tell  ?  Ah, 
I  see;  for  me  to  know  it  is  enough;  I  can  put  it  to 
him  as  a  theory.  I  can  say  Oliver  is  not  a  man  to 
be  put  upon  the  defensive,  and  that  he  is  more  than 
likely  to  be  hunting  '  the  pair  of  us ' — "  All  at  once 
I  thought  of  something. 

"What  made  you  give  that  sudden  start?"  she 
asked  as  we  faced  about  in  the  driveway  to  make  our 
walk  a  moment  longer;  "that's  a  bad  habit  you've 
got ;  why  do  you  do  it  ?  " 

I  fancied  the  thrilling  freshness  of  the  question  I 
was  about  to  put  would  be  explanation  enough.  "  Do 
you  believe  Jewett  has  gone  back  into  his  own 
lines?" 

"I  don't  know;  hasn't  he?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,  either,  but — well,  I  don't  believe 
there's  a  braver  man  in  Grant's  army  than  that  one 
a-straddle  of  my  horse  to-day !  Why,  just  the  way  he 
got  him,  night  before  last, — you've  heard  that,  have 
you  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I've  heard  it ;  he  is  a  very  daring  man ;  what 
of  it?" 

141 


The  Cavalier 

"  Why,  I  can't  help  thinking  he's  out  here  to  make 
a  new  record  for  himself,  at  whatever  cost !  " 

A  note  of  distress  hung  on  my  hearer's  stifled  voice ; 
her  head  went  lower  and  she  laid  her  ringers  pensively 
to  her  lips.  "  It  would  be  like  him,"  I  heard  her  mur 
mur,  and  when  I  asked  if  she  meant  Jewett  she  shook 
her  head. 

"  No,"  I  said,  "  you  mean  it  would  be  like  Oliver  to 
join  him,"  and  with  that  the  sudden  start  was  hers. 
"  He  wouldn't  have  to  touch  Ned  Ferry  or  me,"  I  went 
on,  heartlessly,  "  nor  to  come  near  us,  to  make  us  rue 
the  hour  we  let  ourselves  forget  this  wasn't  our  pri 
vate  war." 

She  whispered  something  to  herself  in  horrified  dis 
may;  but  then  she  looked  at  me  with  her  eyes  very 
blue  and  said  "You'll  see  him  about  it,  won't  you? 
You  must  help  unravel  this  tangle,  Richard;  and  if 
you  do  I'll — I'll  dance  at  your  wedding;  yours  and — 
somebody's  we  know !  "  Her  eyes  began  f orewith. 

A  light  footfall  sounded  behind  us,  and  Camille  gave 
both  her  hands  to  my  companion.  "  I  was  in  the  hall," 
she  said,  "  telling  Cecile  she  was  like  a  white  star  that 
had  come  out  by  day,  when  I  saw  you  here  looking 
like  a  great  red  one ;  and  you're  still  more  like  a  red, 
red  rose,  and  I've  come  to  get  some  of  your  fragrance." 

"  I'd  exchange  for  yours  any  day,  and  thank  you, 
dear,"  responded  Charlotte ;  "  you're  a  bunch  of  sweet- 
peas.  Isn't  she,  Mr.  Smith  ?  " 

The  bunch  beamed  an  ecstatic  bliss.  What  was  the 
explanation;  had  her  father  arrived,  or — or  somebody 
else?  The  question  went  through  me  like  an  arrow. 

142 


A  Martyr's  Wrath 

Was  the  cause  of  this  heavenly  radiance  somebody 
else? — that  was  the  barb;  or  was  it  I? — that  was  the 
soothing  feather. 

In  gratitude  for  Charlotte's  word  she  sank  back 
ward  in  a  long  obeisance.  "  May  it  please  your  lady 
ship,  dinner  is  served.  Oh,  Mr.  Smith,  I've  been  lis 
tening  to  Mr.  Gholson  talking  with  aunt  Martha  and 
Estelle;  I  don't  wonder  you  and  he  are  friends;  I 
think  his  ideas  of  religion  are  perfectly  beautiful !  " 

At  our  two-o'clock  dinner  I  found  that  our  com 
pany  had  been  reinforced.  On  one  side  of  Camille  sat 
I ;  but  on  the  other  side  sat  "  Harry." 


XXXII 
A  MARTYR'S  WRATH 

GREAT  news  the  aide-de-camp  brought  us;  from 
Lee,  from  Longstreet,  Bragg  and  Johnston.  Johnston 
was  about  to  fall  upon  Grant's  rear.  Across  the  Mis 
sissippi  Dick  Taylor  was  expected  this  very  day  to  deal 
the  same  adversary  a  crippling  blow,  and  it  was  partly 
to  mask  this  movement  that  we  had  made  our  feint 
upon  the  Federals  near  Natchez.  Now  these  had  fallen 
back,  and  our  force  had  cunningly  slipped  away  south 
ward.  Only  General  Austin  and  his  staff  had  not  gone 
when  Lieutenant  Helm  left  the  front,  and  they  were 
about  to  go. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  meal  Mrs.  Sessions,  in  her 
amiable  plantation  drawl,  said  she  hoped  the  bearer  of 
so  much  good  tidings  had  not  come  to  take  away 

143 


The  Cavalier 

Lieutenant  Ferry;  and  when  Harry,  flushing,  asked 
what  had  given  her  such  a  thought,  the  simple  soul  re 
plied  that  Mr.  Gholson  had  told  her  he  "  suspicioned 
as  much." 

At  once  there  arose  the  prettiest  clamor  all  round 
the  board,  in  which  Charlotte  and  Cecile  joined  for  the 
obvious  purpose  of  making  confusion.  Gholson  turned 
yellow  and  spoke  things  nobody  heard,  and  Ferry 
tried  to  drown  Harry's  loud  declarations  that  the  word 
he  had  brought  to  Ferry  was  for  him  to  stay,  and  that 
he  had  found  him  saddling  up  to  go  in  search  of  his 
company.  "  Isn't  that  so,  Ned  ? — Now, — now, — isn't 
that  so?" 

We  left  the  table  all  laughing  but  Gholson.  He  tried 
to  say  something  to  Harry,  which  the  latter  waved 
away  with  mock  gaiety  until  on  the  side  veranda  we 
got  beyond  view  of  the  ladies,  when  the  aide-de-camp 
reddened  angrily  and  turned  his  back.  As  the  two 
lieutenants  were  lighting  cigarettes  together,  Harry, 
thinking  Gholson  had  left  us,  blurted  out,  "  Oh,  that's 
all  very  well  for  you  to  say,  Ned,  but,  damn  him,  he's 
not  the  sort  of  man  that  has  the  right  to  '  suspicion  '  me 
of  anything ;  slang-whanging,  backbiting  sneak,  I  know 
what  he's  here  for." 

On  that  the  blood  surged  to  Ferry's  brow,  but  he  set 
his  mouth  firmly,  locked  arms  with  the  speaker  and  led 
him  down  the  veranda.  Gholson  took  on  an  uglier 
pallor  than  before  and  went  back  into  the  house.  I  fol 
lowed  him.  He  moved  slowly  up  the  two  flights  of 
hall  stairs  and  into  a  room  close  under  the  roof,  called 
the  "  soldiers'  room  ".  It  had  three  double  beds,  one 

144 


A  Martyr's  Wrath 

of  them  ours.  Without  a  fault  in  the  dreary  rhythm 
of  his  motions  he  went  to  the  bedpost  where  hung  his 
revolver,  and  turning  to  me  buckled  the  weapon  at 
his  waist  with  hands  that  kept  the  same  unbroken 
measure  though  they  trembled  and  were  as  pallid  as 
his  face.  In  the  same  slow  beat  he  shook  his  head. 

"  Smith,  I  rejoice !  O — oh !  I  rejoice  and  am  glad 
when  I'm  reviled  and  persecuted  by  the  hounds  of  hell, 
and  spoken  evil  against  falsely  for  my  religion's  sake." 

"  Now,  Gholson,  that's  nonsense !  " 

"  O — oh !  that's  what  it's  for !  that's  what  he  meant 
by  '  slang-whanging.'  That's  what  it's  for  from  first 
to  last,  no  matter  what  it's  for  in  between ;  and  I  know 
what  it's  for  in  between,  too,  and  Ned  Ferry  knows. 
Did  you  see  Ned  Ferry  take  him  under  his  protection  ? 
O — oh !  they're  two  of  one  hell-scorched  kind !  "  My 
companion  stood  gripping  the  bedpost  and  fumbling 
at  his  holster.  I  sank  to  the  bed,  facing  him,  expecting 
his  rage  to  burn  itself  out  in  words,  but  when  he  be 
gan  again  his  teeth  were  clenched.  "  You  heard  him 
tell  Ned  Ferry  he  knows  why  I'm  here.  It's  true !  he 
does  know!  he  knows  I'm  here  to  protect  a  certain 
person  from  him  and — " 

"From  whom?  from  Harry  Helm?  Oh,  Gholson, 
that's  too  fantastical !  " 

"  From  him  and  the  likes  of  him !  Not  that  he  loves 
her;  that's  the  difference  between  them  two  cotton- 
mouth  moccasins ;  Ned  Ferry,  hell  grind  him !  does — 
or  thinks  he  does ;  that  other  whelp  don't,  and  knows 
he  don't ;  he's  only  enam' — " 

"HUSH!"    He  ceased.    "  I  swear,  Scott  Gholson, 

145 


The  Cavalier 

you  must  choose  your  words  better  when  you  allude — 
Lieutenant  Helm  is  the  last  man  in  the  brigade  to  be 
under  my  protection,  but — oh,  you're  crazy,  man,  and 
blind  besides.  Harry  Helm  is  not  in  love,  but  he 
thinks  he  is,  though  with  quite  another  person !  " 

"  O — oh !  whether  he  loves  or  not,  or  whoever  he 
loves,  I  know  who  he  hates;  he  hates  me  and  my  re 
ligion;  our  religion,  Smith,  mine  and  yours;  because 
it's  put  me  between  him  and  her.  What  was  that  the 
preacher  said  this  morning  ?  '  The  carnal  mind,  being 
enmity  against  God,  is  enmity  against  them  that  serve 
God/  O — oh,  I  accept  his  enmity!  it  proves  my  re 
ligion  isn't  vain !  I'm  glad  to  get  it !  " 

All  this  from  his  oscillating  head,  through  his  set 
teeth,  in  one  malign  monotone.  As  he  quoted  the 
preacher  he  mechanically  drew  his  revolver.  There 
was  no  bravado  in  this;  he  might  lie,  but  he  did  not 
know  how  to  sham;  did  not  know,  now,  that  his  face 
was  drawn  with  pain.  Holding  the  weapon  in  one  hand, 
under  his  absent  gaze  he  turned  it  from  side  to  side 
on  the  palm  of  the  other.  I  put  out  my  hand  for  it, 
but  he  dropped  it  into  the  holster  and  tried  to  return 
my  smile. 

"  Do  you  propose  to  call  him  out  ?  "  I  asked.  "  You 
can't  call  out  an  officer;  you'll  be  sent  to  the  water- 
batteries  at  Mobile." 

"  I've  thought  of  all  that,"  he  droned. 

"  Then  why  do  you  put  that  thing  on?  " 

"  Why  do  I  put  it  on  ?  Why,  I — you  know  what  I 
told  you  about  that  Yankee — " 

"  Gholson,"  I  exclaimed,  for  I  saw  that  murdei,  even 
146 


A  Martyr's  Wrath 


double  murder,  was  hatching  in  his  heart,  with  Char 
lotte  Oliver  for  its  cause,  and  looked  hard  into  his 
evil  eyes  until  they  overmatched  mine;  whereupon  I 
made  as  if  suddenly  convinced.  "  You're  right ! "  I 
turned,  whipped  on  my  own  belt  with  its  two  "  per 
suaders,"  and  blandly  smoothing  my  ribs,  added 
"  Now !  here  are  two  ready,  Yankees  or  no  Yankees." 

I  never  saw  a  face  so  unconsciously  marked  with 
misery  as  Gholson's  was  when  we  started  downstairs. 
I  stopped  him  on  a  landing.  "  Understand,  you  and 
I  are  friends, — hmm?  I  think  Lieutenant  Helm  owes 
you  an  apology,  and  if  you'll  keep  away  from  him  I'll 
try  to  bring  it  to  you." 

The  reply  began  with  a  vindictive  gleam.  "  You 
needn't ;  I  ain't  got  any  more  use  for  it  than  for  him. 
I  never  apologized  to  a  man  in  my  life,  Smith,  nor  I 
never  accepted  an  apology  from  one;  that's  not  my 
way." 

Near  the  bottom  of  the  second  flight  we  met  Char 
lotte,  who,  to  make  bad  worse,  would  have  passed  with 
no  more  than  a  smile,  but  the  look  of  Gholson  startled 
her  and  she  noticed  our  arms.  With  an  arresting  eye 
I  offered  a  sprightly  comment  on  the  heat  of  the  day, 
and  while  she  was  replying  with  the  same  gaiety  I 
whispered  "  Take  him  with  you." 

How  nimbly  her  mind  moved !  "  Oh  Mr.  Gholson !  " 
she  said,  and  laughed  to  gain  an  instant  for  invention. 
"  Mr.  Gholson,  can  you  tell  me  the  first  line  of  the  last 
hymn  we  sang  this  morning  ?  "  Her  beam  was  irre 
sistible,  and  they  went  to  the  large  parlor.  I  turned 
into  the  smaller  one,  opposite,  where  Squire  Sessions 


The  Cavalier 

started  from  a  stolen  doze  and,  having  heard  of  my 
feeling  for  books,  thrust  into  my  hands,  and  left  me 
with,  the  "  Bible  Defense  of  Slavery/' 

As  I  moved  to  a  window  which  let  out  upon  the 
side  veranda  the  two  lieutenants  came  around  from  the 
front  and  stood  almost  against  it,  outside;  and  as  I 
intended  to  begin  upon  Harry  as  soon  as  Squire  Ses 
sions  was  safely  upstairs,  this  suited  me  well  enough. 
But  the  moment  they  came  to  the  spot  I  heard  Ned 
Ferry  doing  precisely  what  I  had  planned  to  do.  At 
the  same  time,  from  across  the  hall  came  the  sound  of 
the  piano  and  of  Charlotte's  voice,  now  a  few  bars, 
then  an  interval  of  lively  speech,  again  a  few  bars, 
then  more  speech,  and  then  a  sustained  melody  as  she 
lent  herself  to  the  kind  flattery  of  Gholson's  songless 
soul. 

"But  he  is!"  I  overheard  the  aide-de-camp  say; 
"he  is  a  backbiting  sneak,  and  I  tell  you  again  he's 
backbitten  nobody  more  than  he  has  you ! " 

"  And  I  tell  you  again,  Harry,  that  is  my  business/' 
"  If  he  wants  to  fight  me  he  can ;  I'll  waive  my  rank/' 
"  No,  you  will  not,  you  have  no  right ;  our  poor  lit 
tle  rank,  it  doesn't  belong  to  us,  Harry,  'tis  we  belong 
to  it.    'If  he  wants  to  fight ! ' — Do  you  take  him  for 
a  rabbit?    He  is  a  brave  man,  you  know  that,  old  fel 
low.    Of  course  he  wants  to  fight.     But  he  cannot! 
For  the  court-martial  he  would  not  care  so  much;   I 
would  not,  you  would  not;    'tis  his  religion  forbids 
him." 

"  O — oh !  "  groaned  Harry  in  Gholson's  exact  tone, 
"'Hark  from  the  tombs'!" 

148 


A  Martyr's  Wrath 

"Ah!"  said  Ferry,  "he  does  not  live  up  to  it? 
Well,  of  course!  who  does?  But  we  will  pass  that; 
the  main  question  is,  Will  you  express  the  regret,  and 
so  forth,  as  I  have  suggested,  and  do  yourself  credit, 
Harry,  as  an  officer  and  a  gentleman,  or — will  you 
fight?" 

"  But  you  say  his  religion,  so  called,  won't  let  him 
fight!"  - 

"  That's  what  I  think ;  but  if  it  forbids  him,  and  if 
consequently  he  will  not,  well, — Harry, — I  will." 

"You  will  what!" 

"  I  will  have  to  fight  you  in  his  place." 

"  Why,  Ned ! — Ned ! — you — you  astound  me !  Wha* 
— what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  That  is  what  I  mean,  Harry.  You  know — many 
times  you  have  heard  me  say — I  don't  believe  in  that 
kind  of  thing;  I  find  that  worse  than  the  religion  of 
Gholson;  yet  still, — what  shall  I  say? — we  are  but 
soldiers  any-how — this  time  I  make  an  exception  in 
your  favor.  And  of  course  this  is  confidential,  on  both 
sides ;  but  you  must  make  peace  with  Gholson,  or  you 
must  fight  with  me." 

"Oh,  good  Lord !— Ned !— Good  Lord  A'mighty! 
but  this  is  too  absurd.  Why,  Ned,  don't  you  see  that 
the  bottom  cause  of  this  trouble  isn't — " 

"I  know  what  is  the  bottom  cause  of  this  trouble 
very  well,  Harry;  you  can  hear  her  in  yonder,  now, 
singing.  Wherever  Gholson  is  he  hears  her,  too,  like- 
wise.  Perchance  'tis  to  him  she  is  singing.  If  she 
can  sing  to  him,  are  you  too  good  to  apolo-gize?  " 

"Oh,  I'll  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  Ned, 

149 


The  Cavalier 

damned  if  I  don't!  George!  I'll  apologize!  Rather 
than  lose  your  friendship  I'd  apologize  to  the  devil ! " 

Ferry's  thanks  came  eagerly.  "  Well,  anyhow,  old 
boy,"  he  added,  "  in  such  a  case  to  back  down  is  braver 
than  to  fight ;  but  to  apologize  to  the  devil — that  is  not 
hard ;  on  the  contrary,  to  keep  from  apologizing  to  the 
devil — ah !  I  wish  I  could  always  do  that ! — I  wonder 
where  is  Dick  Smith." 

I  stealthily  laid  down  the  "  Bible  Defense  of  Slavery  " 
and  was  going  upstairs  three  steps  at  a  stride,  when  I 
came  upon  Camille  and  Estelle.  My  aim  was  to  get 
Harry's  revolver  to  him  before  he  should  have  the  ex 
asperating  surprise  of  finding  Gholson  armed,  and  to 
contrive  a  pretext  for  so  doing;  and  happily  a  word 
from  the  two  sisters  gave  me  my  cue.  With  the  fire 
arms  of  both  officers  I  came  downstairs  and  out  upon 
the  veranda  loud-footed,  humming — 

1  To  the  lairds  o'  Convention  'twas  Claverhouse  spoke, 
Ere  the  sun  shall  go  down  there  are  heads  to  be 

Gentlemen,  I  hope  I'm  not  too  officious;  they  say 
we're  all  going  for  a  walk  in  the  lily-pond  woods,  and 
I  reckon  you'd  rather  not  leave  these  things  behind." 

Both  thanked  me  and  buckled  on  their  belongings, 
but  Ferry's  look  was  peculiarly  intelligent ;  "  I  was 
in  the  small  parlor,  looking  for  you,"  he  said ;  "  I 
thought  you  would  be  near  the  music."  And  so  he 
had  seen  Gholson  with  his  revolver  on  him,  and  must 
have  understood  it ! 

"  Smith,"  said  Harry,  "  will  you  be  so  kind  as  to 
150 


Torch  and  Sword 

say  to  Gholson — oh,  Lord!    Ned,  this  is  heavy  drags 

on  a  sandy  road!    I — " 

"  That's  all  right,  Harry,  I  withdraw  the  request." 
"Well,  you  needn't;    I  was  in  the  wrong.     Smith, 

will  you  say  to  Gholson — "    His  voice  dropped  to  a 

strictly  private  rumble. 

"  Yes,  Lieutenant,  I'll  do  so  with  pleasure,  and  I'm 

sure  what  you  say  will  have  the  proper — here  are  the 

ladies." 


XXXIII 

TORCH   AND   SWORD 

"  Now  give  me  your  hand,  Miss  Camilla ;  now 
jump!"  So  twice  and  once  again  the  rivulet  was 
passed  which  ran  from  the  lily-pond,  she  and  I  lead 
ing  all  the  others  on  the  return  from  the  woodland 
afternoon  walk.  We  turned  and  faced  away  from  the 
declining  sun  and  across  the  clear  pool  to  where  its 
upper  end,  dotted  with  lily-pads,  lay  in  a  deep  recess 
of  the  woods.  There  were  green  and  purple  garlands 
of  wild  passion-flower  around  her  hat  and  about  the 
white  and  blue  fabrics  at  her  waist.  At  the  head  of 
the  pond,  with  Ferry  beside  her,  stood  black-haired 
Cecile  canopied  by  overhanging  boughs,  her  hat  be 
decked  with  the  red  spikes  of  the  Indian-shot  and 
wound  with  orange  masses  of  love-vine.  Nearer  to 
us  around  the  shore  was  Estelle  of  the  red-brown  hair 
and  red-brown  eyes  and  brows  and  lashes,  whose  cheek 
seemed  always  to  glow  with  ever  rising  but  never  con- 


The  Cavalier 

fessed  emotion;  and  with  her  walked  Gholson.  Near 
the  waterside  also,  but  farthest  up  the  path,  came  Miss 
Harper  and  Charlotte  Oliver. 

Harry  was  not  with  us.  The  settlement  of  his 
trouble  with  Gholson  awaited  his  return  out  of  the 
region  north  of  us,  whither  Ferry  had  suggested  his 
riding  on  an  easy  reconnaissance.  Camille  and  I  were 
just  turning  again,  when  there  came  abruptly  into  our 
scene  the  last  gallant  show  of  martial  finery  any  of  us 
ever  saw  until  the  war  was  over  and  there  was  noth 
ing  for  our  side  to  make  itself  fine  for.  On  the  road 
from  the  house  we  heard  a  sound  of  galloping,  and 
the  next  moment  General  Austin  and  his  entire  staff 
(less  only  Harry)  reined  up  at  the  edge  of  the  pond, 
ablaze  with  all  the  good  clothes  they  could  muster  and 
betraying  just  enough  hard  usage  to  give  a  stirring 
show  of  the  war's  heroic  reality.  The  General,  on  a 
beautiful  cream-colored  horse,  wore  long  yellow  gaunt 
lets  and  a  yellow  sash ;  from  throat  to  waist  the  sunlight 
glistened  upon  the  over-abundant  gold  lace  of  his  new 
uniform,  his  legs  were  knee-deep  in  shining  boots,  and 
his  soft  gray  hat  was  looped  up  on  one  side  and  plumed 
according  to  Regulations  with  one  drooping  ostrich 
feather.  Behind  halted  in  pleasing  confusion  captains 
and  captains,  flashing  with  braids,  bars,  buckles,  but 
tons,  bands,  sword-knots,  swords  and  brave  eyes,  and 
gaily  lifting  hats  and  caps,  twice,  and  twice  again,  and 
once  more,  to  the  ladies — God  bless  them !  Major  Har 
per,  the  oldest,  most  refined  and  most  soldierly  of  them 
all,  was  also  the  handsomest.  Old  Dismukes  was  with 
them;  burly,  bushy,  dingy,  on  a  huge  roan  charger. 

152 


Torch  and  Sword 

Camilla  asked  me  who  he  was,  and  I  was  aBout  td 
reply  that  he  was  a  bloodthirsty  brute  without  a  re 
deeming  trait,  when  he  lifted  his  shaggy  brows  at  me 
and  smiled,  and  as  I  smiled  back  I  told  her  he  was  our 
senior  colonel,  rough  at  times,  but  the  bravest  of  the 
brave.  Meantime  the  General  rode  forward  over  a 
stretch  of  shallow  water,  Ned  Ferry  ran  back  along 
the  margin  to  meet  him,  and  at  the  saddlebow  they 
spoke  a  moment  together  privately,  while  at  more  dis 
tance  but  openly  to  us  all  Major  Harper  informed  his 
sister  that  with  one  night's  camp  and  another  day's 
dust  the  brigade  would  be  down  in  Louisiana.  Camille 
turned  upon  me  and  hurrahed,  the  Arkansas  colonel 
smiled  upon  her  approvingly,  the  ladies  all  waved,  the 
General  lifted  his  plumed  hat,  faced  about,  passed 
through  his  turning  cavalcade  and  drew  it  after  him  at 
a  gallop. 

Our  promenaders  hurried  into  close  order  and  with 
quick  step  and  eager  converse  we  moved  toward  the 
house.  In  raptures  scintillant  with  their  own  beauty 
the  three  Harper  girls  inflated  each  item  of  the  day's 
news  and  the  morrow's  outlook,  and  it  was  almost  as 
pretty  to  see  Miss  Harper's  keen  black  eyes  and  loving- 
tolerant  smile  go  back  and  forth  from  Camille  to  Es- 
telle,  from  Estelle  to  Cecile,  and  round  again,  as  each 
maiden  added  some  new  extravagance  to  the  glad 
vaunting  of  the  last,  and  looked,  for  confirmation,  to 
the  gallant  who  toiled  to  keep  her  under  her  parasol. 
Suddenly  the  three  girls  broke  into  song  with  an 
adaptation  of  "  Oh,  carry  me  back "  which  substi 
tuted  "  Louisiana  "  for  "  Virginia.,"  but  whose  absurd 

153 


The  Cavalier 

quaverings  I  will  not  betray  in  words  to  a  generation 
that  never  knew  the  frantic  times  to  which  they  be 
longed.  I  felt  a  shamefacedness  for  them  even  then, 
yet  when  I  glanced  behind,  Miss  Harper  was  singing 
with  us  in  the  most  exalted  earnest.  We  had  nearly 
reached  the  field-gate,  the  big  white  one  on  the  highway, 
and  were  noting  that  the  dust  of  the  General  and  his 
retinue  had  barely  vanished  from  the  southern  stretch 
of  the  road,  when  one  feminine  voice  said  "  What's 
that?"  another  exclaimed  "See  yonder!"  and  Miss 
Harper  cried  "  Why,  gentlemen,  somebody's  house  is 
burning !  " 

Beyond  the  grove  and  the  fields  north  of  it,  and  be 
yond  their  farther  bound  of  trees,  in  the  northwest, 
was  rising  and  unfolding  into  the  peaceful  Sabbath 
heavens  a  massive  black  column  of  the  peculiar  heavy 
smoke  made  by  the  burning  of  baled  and  stored  cot 
ton.  We  ran,  two  and  two,  into  the  road  and  up 
toward  the  grove-gate.  "  Don't  stumble,"  I  warned 
Camille  as  she  looked  back  to  see  if  any  one  besides  me 
was  holding  his  partner's  hand.  Inside  the  gate  we 
paused,  we  two,  still  hand  in  hand.  Her  brown  hair 
had  shaken  low  upon  her  temples  in  two  voluptuous 
masses  between  which  she  lifted  her  eyes  to  mine,  my 
hand  tightened  on  hers,  and  hers  gave  a  little  spasm 
of  its  own. 

"  Oh,  Dick !  "  she  whispered ;  but  before  I  could  rally 
from  the  blissful  shock  of  it  to  reply,  her  face  changed 
distressfully,  and  pointing  beyond  me,  she  drank  a  great 
breath,  and  cried,  "  Look !  " 

Sure  enough,  out  there  on  the  sky-line,  in  the  north- 


Torch  and  Sword 

east  this  time,  another  column  of  smoke  was  lifting 
its  first  billow  over  the  tree-tops.  "  Oh,  Dick !  "  she  ex 
claimed,  in  beautiful  alarm,  "  what  does  it  mean?  " 

"  It  means  the  Yankees, — love,"  I  said,  and  when 
she  gasped  her  dismay  without  letting  on  to  have  heard 
the  last  word,  I  felt  that  fires  were  cheap  at  any  price. 

"  There  are  others  there  besides  Yankees,"  said  Ghol- 
son  to  the  general  company  as  they  joined  us ;  "  Yan 
kees  have  got  more  sense  than  to  start  fires  ahead  of 
their  march."  On  the  same  instant  with  Ned  Ferry 
I  sprang  half-way  to  the  top  of  the  grove  fence  and 
peered  out  across  road  and  fields  upon  the  farthest  point 
in  line  with  the  second  fire.  There  we  saw  two  horse 
men  reconnoitring,  one  a  very  commanding  figure, 
the  other  mean  enough.  Ferry  used  his  glass,  but  no 
glass  was  needed  to  tell  either  of  us  that  Gholson's 
reckoning  was  true ;  those  two  were  not  Federals. 

The  ladies  flew  to  the  house  and  the  rest  of  us  to 
the  stable.  In  its  door  Ferry  stopped  to  look  back  upon 
the  road  while  Gholson  and  I  darted  in,  but  now  he, 
too,  sprang  to  his  horse's  side.  "  How  many,  Lieu 
tenant  ?  "  I  cried,  as  the  three  of  us  saddled  up. 

"  About  a  hundred ;  same  we  saw  yesterday ;  cap 
tain  at  the  rear;  that  means  our  fellows  are  close  be 
hind  them." 

For  a  moment  more  I  could  hear  the  thunder  of 
their  speeding  column;  then  the  grove  seemed  to 
swallow  it  up,  and  the  stillness  was  grim.  "  Come  on !  " 
cried  Ferry,  swinging  up,  and  after  him  we  sprang. 
"  They've  dismounted  on  the  far  edge  of  the  grove," 
said  Gholson  to  me  as  we  rode  abreast,  with  Ferry  a 


The  Cavalier 

length  ahead ;  "  they'll  form  line  on  each  side  the  road 
at  right  angles  to  it !  "  and  again  he  was  right.  Ferry 
led  northeastward,  but  hardly  had  we  made  half  a  dozen 
leaps  when  he  waved  me  to  a  near  corner  of  the  flower- 
garden  palings  and  I  saw  Miss  Harper  beckoning  and 
Charlotte  holding  up  my  carbine  and  his  sword.  Miss 
Harper  was  drawn  up  as  straight  as  a  dart,  her  black 
eyes  flashing  and  her  lips  charged  with  practical  in 
formation  that  began  to  flow  the  moment  I  was  near 
enough  to  hear  her  guarded  voice.  "  They've  all  put 
their  horses  in  the  locks  of  the  road  fence,  just  beyond 
the  big  white  gate — " 

"We  know,"  I  interrupted,  leaning  and  snatching 
the  weapons  from  Charlotte's  hands.  She  kissed  them 
good-bye. 

"  Ah,  yes,  yes ! "  she  said,  "  they  know  all  we  can 
tell  them  and  all  we  can't !  " 

The  only  response  I  could  give  was  the  shower  of 
loose  earth  thrown  upon  both  women  by  my  horse's 
heels  as  I  whirled  and  sped  after  my  leader.  He  and 
Gholson  were  half  a  broad  field  ahead  of  me,  but  I 
followed  only  at  their  speed,  designing  to  hand  over 
the  sword  so  nearly  at  the  moment  of  going  into  action 
that  I  might  stay  by  its  owner's  side  unrebuked;  and 
my  plan  was  not  in  vain.  Up  the  highway  our  Loui- 
sianians  burst  into  view  in  column  at  full  speed;  I 
knew  them  by  their  captain,  a  man  noted  throughout 
the  brigade  for  the  showiness  of  his  dress ;  and  the  next 
instant,  away  across  the  fields  beyond  the  highroad, 
Quinn  and  his  scouts  broke  out  of  the  woods,  heading 
for  the  gap  in  the  woods-pasture  fence.  As  each  f rienc}- 


The  Charge  in  the  Lane 

ly  column  caught  sight  of  the  other,  long  cheers  rang 
across  the  narrowing  interval  between  them.  Through 
that  other  gap  which  I  had  noted  in  my  walk  with  Ferry 
he  and  Gholson  reached  the  road,  sped  forward  on  it  to 
a  rise  that  overlooked  the  fields,  and  halted.  Ferry  rose 
on  tiptoe  in  the  stirrups,  lifted  his  cap  in  air,  pointed 
triumphantly  backward  to  the  grove,  and  was  recog 
nized  by  both  columns  at  once.  Again  they  cheered; 
at  a  full  run  I  reached  his  side  and  threw  his  sword 
into  his  hand.  Both  columns  saw  him  belt  it  on  and 
flash  it  out,  their  cheers  swelled  again,  the  Louisianians 
hurtled  down  upon  us,  and  we  turned  and  were  at  the 
front  of  the  onset. 


XXXIV 

THE  CHARGE  IN  THE  LANE 

THE  instant  Ferry  wheeled  at  the  flaming  captain's 
side  you  could  see  he  was  unwelcome.  I  heard  him  tell 
what  we  knew  of  the  foe  and  the  ground ;  I  saw  him 
glance  back  at  the  blown  condition  of  the  speeding 
column  and  then  say  "  You've  got  them  zny-how,  Cap 
tain;  you'll  get  every  man  of  them  without  a  scratch, 
only  if  you  will  take  your  time." 

But  the  Captain  answered  headily ;  "  No,  sir !  I've 
tried  that  twice  already ;  this  time  I'll  cut  them  in  two 
and  be  in  their  rear  at  one  dash !  Bring  in  your  com 
pany  behind  mine,  if  you  choose." 

Ferry  drew  back  a  few  ranks  but  stayed  with  the 
column ;  Quinn  had  had  the  toil  of  the  chase,  he  should 
have  also  the  glory  of  the  fight.  So  Ferry  sent  Ghol- 

157 


The  Cavalier 

son — whose  horsemanship  won  a  cheer  from  the  pass 
ing  Louisianians  as  he  cleared  the  roadside  fence — 
across  to  Quinn,  bidding  the  Lieutenant  slacken  speed 
and  count  himself  a  reserve.    And  then  into  the  broad 
l&ne    between    grove    and    woods-pasture,    with    the 
harging  yell,  the  Louisianians  thundered.     Ah!    but 
ny  Creole  gentleman  was  a  sight,  with  his  straight 
lade  lifted  in  air  and  his  face  turned  back  on  us  aglow 
vith  the  joy  of  battle!     I  was  huzzaing  back  at  him 
and  we  were  passing  the  front  gate  of  the  grove  avenue, 
when  down  through  it  came  from  the  house,  with  a 
tremor  of  echoes,  the  first  shot;    a  shot  and  then  a 
woman's  scream,  and  his  blazing  eyes  said  to  me,  "  He 
is  there !    That  was  Oliver !  " 

There  was  no  time  for  speech.  The  shot  was  not  a 
signal,  yet  on  the  instant  and  in  our  very  teeth,  on 
our  right  and  our  left,  the  cross-fire  of  the  hidden  and 
waiting  foe  flashed  and  pealed,  and  left  and  right,  a 
life  for  a  life,  our  carbines  answered  from  the  saddle. 
For  a  moment  the  odds  against  us  were  awful.  In  an 
instant  the  road  was  so  full  of  fallen  horses  and  dis 
mounted  men  that  the  jaded  column  faltered  in  con 
fusion.  Our  cunning  enemy,  seeing  us  charge  in 
column,  had  swung  the  two  extremes  of  their  line  for 
ward  and  inward.  So,  crouching  and  firing  upon  us 
mounted,  each  half  could  fire  toward  the  other  with 
impunity,  and  what  bullets  missed  their  mark  buzzed 
and  whined  about  our  ears  and  pecked  the  top  rails  of 
either  fence  like  hail  on  a  window.  A  wounded  horse 
drove  mine  back  upon  his  haunches  and  caused  him  to 
plant  a  hoof  full  on  the  breast  of  one  of  our  Louisian- 

158 


The  Charge  in  the  Lane 

ians  stretched  dead  on  his  back  as  though  he  had  lain 
there  for  an  hour.  Another  man,  pale,  dazed,  unhurt, 
stood  on  the  ground,  unaware  that  he  was  under  point- 
blank  fire,  holding  by  the  bits  his  beautiful  horse,  that 
pawed  the  earth  majestically  and  at  every  second  or 
third  breath  blew  from  his  flapping  nostrils  a  cloud  of 
scarlet  spray.  They  blocked  up  half  the  road.  As  we 
swerved  round  them  the  horse  of  the  company's  first 
lieutenant  slid  forward  and  downward  with  knees  and 
nose  in  the  dust,  hurling  his  rider  into  a  lock  of  the 
fence,  and  the  rider  rose  and  rushed  to  the  road  again 
barely  in  time  to  catch  a  glittering  form  that  dropped 
rein  and  sword  and  reeled  backward  from  the  saddle. 
It  was  his  captain,  shot  through  the  breast.  An  instant 
later  our  tangled  column  parted  to  right  and  left, 
dashed  into  the  locks  of  the  two  fences,  sprang  to  the 
ground,  and  began  to  repay  the  enemy  in  the  coin  of 
their  own  issue.  Only  a  dozen  or  so  did  otherwise,  and 
it  was  my  luck  to  be  one  of  these.  Espying  Ned  Ferry 
at  the  very  front,  in  the  road,  standing  in  his  stirrups 
and  shouting  back  for  followers  to  carry  the  charge  on 
through,  we  spurred  toward  him  and  he  turned  and 
led.  Then  what  was  my  next  fortune  but  to  see, 
astride  of  my  stolen  horse,  the  towering  leader  of  the 
foe,  Captain  Jewett. 

He  came  into  the  road  a  few  rods  ahead  of  us 
through  a  gap  his  men  had  earlier  made  opposite  the 
big  white  gate.  He  answered  our  fierce  halloo,  as  he 
crossed,  by  a  pistol-shot  at  Ferry,  but  Ferry  only 
glanced  around  at  me  and  pointed  after  him  with  his 
sword.  A  number  of  blue-coats  afoot  followed  him  to 

159 


The  Cavalier 

the  gap  but  at  our  onset  scattered  backward,  sturdily 
returning  our  fire.  Into  the  gap  and  into  the  enemy's 
left  rear  went  Ferry  and  his  horsemen,  but  I  turned 
the  other  way  and  spurred  through  the  woods-pasture 
gate  after  the  Federal  leader,  he  on  my  horse  and  I 
on  his.  Down  the  highway,  on  either  side,  stood  his 
brave  men's  horses  in  the  angles  of  the  worm-fence, 
and  two  or  three  horse-holders  took  a  shot  at  me  as  I 
sped  in  after  the  man  who  was  bent  on  reaching  the 
right  of  his  divided  force  before  Quinn  should  strike 
it,  as  I  was  bent  on  foiling  him.  Twice  I  fired  at  his 
shapely  back,  and  twice,  while  he  kept  his  speed  among 
the  tree-trunks,  he  looked  back  at  me  as  coolly  as  at 
an  odd  passer-by  and  sent  me  a  ball  from  his  revolver. 
A  few  more  bounds  carried  him  near  enough  to  his 
force  to  shout  his  commands,  but  half  a  hundred  cheers 
suddenly  resounded  in  the  depth  of  the  woods-pasture, 
and  Quinn  and  his  men  charged  upon  the  foe's  right 
and  rear.  I  joined  the  shout  and  the  shouters;  in  a 
moment  the  enemy  were  throwing  down  their  arms,  and 
I  turned  to  regain  the  road  to  the  pond.  For  I  had 
marked  Jewett  burst  through  Quinn's  line  and  with  a 
score  of  shots  ringing  after  him  make  one  last  brave 
dash — for  escape.  Others,  pursuing  him,  bent  north 
ward,  but  my  instinct  was  right,  his  last  hope  was  for 
his  horse-holders,  and  at  a  sharp  angle  of  the  by-road, 
where  it  reached  the  pond,  exactly  where  Camille 
and  I  had  stood  not  an  hour  before,  I  came  abruptly 
upon  Cricket — riderless.  I  seized  his  rein,  and  as  I 
bent  and  snapped  the  halter  of  one  horse  on  the  snaf 
fle  of  the  other  I  saw  the  missing  horseman.  Leaping 

160 


Fallen  Heroes 

from  the  saddle  I  ran  to  him.  He  was  lying  on  his 
face  in  the  shallow  water  where  General  Austin  and 
his  staff  had  so  gaily  halted  a  short  while  before,  and 
as  I  caught  sight  of  him  he  rolled  upon  his  back  and 
tried  to  lift  his  bemired  head. 


XXXV 

FALLEN   HEROES 

I  DROPPED  to  my  knee  in  the  reddening  pool  and 
passed  my  arm  under  his  head. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  said,  and  repeated  the  word  as 
I  wet  my  handkerchief  and  wiped  the  mire  from  his 
face ;  "  thank  you ; — no,  no," — I  was  opening  his  shirt 
— "that's  useless;  get  me  where  you  can  turn  me 
over;  you've  hit  me  in  the  back,  my  lad." 

"  I?— I  hit  you?  Oh,  Captain  Jewett,  thank  God,  I 
didn't  hit  you  at  all !  " 

"  What's  the  difference,  boy ;  you  didn't  aim  to 
miss,  did  you?  I  didn't.  It's  not  my  only  hurt;  I 
think  I  broke  something  inside  when  I  fell  from  the 
sad' — ah !  that's  your  bugle,  isn't  it  ?  It's  my  last 
fight — oh,  the  devil!  my  good  boy,  don't  begin  to  cry 
again ;  war's  war ;  give  me  some  water.  .  .  .  Thank 
you!  And  now,  if  you  don't  want  me  to  bleed  to 
death  get  me  out  of  this  slop,  and — yes, — easy ! — that's 
it — easy — oh,  God !  oh,  let  me  down,  boy,  let  me  down, 
you're  killing  me!  Oh! — "  he  fainted  away. 

With  his  unconscious  head  still  on  my  arm  I  faced 
161 


The  Cavalier 

toward  the  hundred  after-sounds  of  the  fray  and  hal 
looed  for  help.  To  my  surprise  it  promptly  came. 
Three  blundering  boys  we  were  who  lifted  him  into  the 
saddle  and  bore  him  to  the  house  reeling  and  moaning 
astride  of  Cricket,  the  poor  beast  half  dead  with  hard 
going.  The  sinking  sun  was  as  red  as  October  when 
we  issued  into  the  highroad  and  moved  up  it  to  the 
grove  gate  through  the  bloody  wreckage  of  the  fray. 
The  Louisianians  were  camping  in  the  woods-pasture, 
Ferry's  scouts  in  the  grove,  and  the  captive  Federals 
were  in  the  road  between,  shut  in  by  heavy  guards.  At 
our  appearance  they  crowded  around  us,  greeting  their 
undone  commander  with  proud  words  of  sympathy 
and  love,  and  he  thanked  them  as  proudly  and  lovingly, 
though  he  could  scarcely  speak,  more  than  to  ask  every 
moment  for  water.  A  number  of  our  Sessions  house 
group  crowded  out  to  meet  us  at  the  veranda  steps; 
Camille ;  Harry  Helm  with  his  right  hand  bandaged ; 
Cecile,  attended  by  two  or  three  Sessions  children; 
and  behind  all  Miss  Harper  exclaiming  "  Ah,  my  boy, 
you're  a  welcome  sight — Oh !  is  that  Captain  Jewett !  " 

Two  or  three  bystanders  helped  us  bear  him  up 
stairs,  where,  turning  from  the  bedside,  I  pressed 
Camille  with  eager  questions. 

"  Lieutenant  Ferry  ?  he's  unhurt — and  so  is  Mr.  Ghol- 
son!  Mr.  Gholson's  gone  to  Franklin  for  doctors; 
Lieutenant  Ferry  sent  him;  he's  been  sending  every 
body  everywhere  faster  than  anybody  else  could  think 
of  anything !  " 

I  asked  where  Ferry  was  now.  Her  eyes  refilled — 
they  were  red  from  earlier  distresses — and  she  mo- 

162 


Fallen  Heroes 

tioned  across  the  hall :  "  The  captain  of  the  Louisiani- 
ans,  you  know,  has  sent  for  him !  " 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  the  Captain's  hit  hard.  I  saw  him 
when  he  was  struck." 

"  Oh,  Dick !  then  you  were  at  the  very  front !  " 

"  Did  you  think  I  was  at  the  rear  ?  " 

She  looked  down.     "  I  couldn't  help  hoping  it." 

"  Then  you  were  thinking  of  me." 

"  I  prayed  for  you." 

Such  news  seemed  but  ill-gotten  gains,  to  come  be 
fore  I  had  gathered  courage  to  inquire  after  Charlotte 
Oliver.  "  Wh' — where  is — where  are  the  others  ?  " 

"  They're  all  about  the  house,  tending  the  wounded ; 
Mrs.  Sessions  is  with  the  Squire,  of  course, — dear, 
brave  old  gentleman!  we  thought  he  was  killed,  but 
Charlotte  found  the  ball  had  glanced." 

I  asked  if  it  was  Oliver  who  shot  him,  and  she 
nodded.  "  It  was  down  at  the  front  door ;  the  Squire 
said  he'd  shoot  him  if  he  shot  Charlotte,  and  Charlotte 
declared  she'd  shoot  him  if  he  shot  the  Squire,  and  all 
at  once  he  shot  at  her  and  struck  him." 

"  Who  was  it  that  screamed ;  was  it  she  ?  " 

My  informant's  head  drooped  low  and  she  mur 
mured,  "  It  was  I." 

"  Then  you  were  at  the  front." 

"  Did  you  think  I  was  at  the  rear?  " 

I  fear  I  answered  evasively.  I  added  that  I  must 
go  to  Lieutenant  Ferry,  and  started  toward  the  door, 
but  she  touched  my  arm.  "  Oh,  Dick,  you  should  have 
heard  him  praise  you  to  her! — and  when  he  said  you 
chased  Captain  Jewett  and  was  missing,  she  cried ; 


The  Cavalier 

but  now  I'll  tell  her  you're  here."  She  started  away 
but  returned.  "  Oh,  Dick,  isn't  it  wonderful  how  we're 
always  victorious !  why  don't  those  poor  Yankees  give 
up  the  struggle?  they  must  see  that  God  is  on  our 
side!" 

As  she  left  me,  Ned  Ferry  came  out  with  a  sad  face, 
but  smiled  gladly  on  me  and  caught  me  fondly  by 
the  arm.  On  hearing  my  brief  report  he  saddened 
more  than  ever,  and  when  I  said  I  had  promised  Jewett 
he  should  hand  his  sword  to  none  but  him,  "  Oh !  " — 
he  smiled  tenderly — "  I  don't  want  to  refuse  it ;  go 
in  and  hang  it  at  the  head  of  his  bed  as  he  would  do 
in  his  own  tent;  I'll  wait  here." 

I  pointed  to  the  door  he  had  softly  closed  behind 
him:  "How  is  it  in  there?" 

"  Ah,  Richard,  in  there  the  war  is  all  over." 

"Dead?" 

"  So  called." 


XXXVI 

"  SAYS     QUINN,   S'E  " 

LIEUTENANT  HELM  came  out  as  I  went  in,  and  I 
paused  an  instant  to  ask  him  in  fierce  suspicion  if  he 
had  bandaged  his  hand  himself.  "  No,"  he  whispered, 
"  Miss  Camille."  It  was  a  lie,  but  I  did  not  learn 
that  until  months  after.  "  Come  downstairs  as  soon  as 
you  can,"  he  added,  "  there's  a  hot  supper  down  there ; 
first  come  first  served."  We  parted. 

I  found  Miss  Harper  fanning  the  wounded  giant 
164 


Says   Quinn,   S'e 


and  bathing  his  brows,  and  my  smiles  were  ample  ex 
planation  of  my  act  as  I  hung  the  sword  up.  Then  I 
brought  in  my  leader.  "  Captain  Jewett,"  he  said  after 
a  nearly  silent  exchange  of  greetings,  "  I  wish  we  had 
you  uninjured." 

"  Ah,  no,  Lieutenant,  this  is  bad  enough.  Lieuten 
ant,  there  is  one  matter — " 

"  Yes,  Captain,  what  is  that?  " 

"  The  villain  who  set  those  fires — you  know  who  he 
is,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,  Captain,  I  know." 

"He  didn't  begin  that  until  after  he  left  me.  I 
had  some  private  reasons  for  not  killing  him  when  I 
might  have  done  it." 

"  Yes,  Captain,  I  know  that,  too." 

"  Yet  if  I  had  caught  him  again  I  would  have  strung 
him  up  to  the  first  limb." 

"  I  have  sent  some  picked  men  to  catch  him  if  they 
can,"  said  Ferry,  and  the  racked  sufferer  lifted  a  hand 
in  approval.  Camille  came  to  her  aunt  and  whispered 
"  Mr.  Gholson  with  two  doctors."  The  wounded  cap 
tive  heard  her. 

"  Lieutenant,"  he  panted,  "  I  hope  you'll — do  me  the 
favor — to  let  my  turn  with  those  gentlemen — come 
last,— after  my  boys, — will  you  ?  " 

"  Ah !  Captain,  even  our  boys  wouldn't  allow  that ; 
no,  here's  a  doctor,  now." 

I  went  down  to  the  supper-table.  Camille  was  there, 
dispensing  its  promiscuous  hospitality  to  men  who  ate 
like  pigs.  I  would  as  leave  have  found  her  behind  a 
French-market  coffee-stand.  Harry  Helm,  nursing  his 

165 


The  Cavalier 

bandaged  hand,  was  lolling  back  from  the  board  and 
quizzing  her  with  compliments  while  she  cut  up  his 
food.  A  fellow  in  the  chair  next  mine  said  he  had  seen 
me  with  Ferry  when  we  joined  the  Louisianians' 
charge.  "  Your  aide-de-campp  friend  over  yonder's 
a-gitt'n'  lots  o'  sweetenin'  with  his  grub;  well,  he  de 
serves  it." 

I  asked  how  he  deserved  it.  "  Why,  we  wouldn't 
'a'  got  here  in  time  if  he  hadn't  'a'  met-up  with  us. 
That  man  Gholson,  he's  another  good  one." 

The  latter  remark  seemed  to  me  a  feeler,  and  I  ig 
nored  it,  and  inquired  how  Lieutenant  Helm  had  got 
that  furlough.  (Furlough  was  our  slang  for  a  light 
wound.)  "Oh,  he  got  it  mighty  fair!  Did  you  see 
that  Yankee  lieutenant  with  the  big  sabre-cut  on  his 
shoulder?  Well,  your  friend  yonder  gave  him  that — 
and  got  the  Yankee's  pistol-shot  in  his  hand.  But  that 
saved  Gholson's  life,  for  that  shot  was  aimed  to  give 
Gholson  a  furlough  to  kingdom-come.  Are  they  kin- 
folks?" 

I  mumbled  that  they  were  not  even  friends.  "  Well, 
now,  I  suspicioned  that, — when  I  first  see  'em  meet  at 
the  head  of  our  column!  But  the  aide-de-campp  he 
took  it  so  good-natured  that,  thinks  I, — " 

Another  of  Ferry's  men,  seated  opposite,  swallowed 
hurriedly,  and  covertly  put  in —  "  Y'  ought  to  hear 
what  Quinn  said  to  Gholson  just  now  as  they  met-up 
out  here  in  the  hall.  Quinn  thought  they  were  alone. 
Says  Quinn,  as  cold  as  a  fish,  s's'e  '  Mr.  Gholson,'  s'e, 
'  you're  not  a  coward,  sir,  and  that's  why  I'm  curious 
to  ask  you  a  question,'  s'e.  And  says  Gholson,  just  as 

166 


Says  Quinn,  S'e 


cold,  s'e  *  Fm  prepared,  Lieutenant  Quinn,  to  answer 
it.'  And  says  Quinn,  s'e  '  Why  was  it,  that  when  Harry 
Helm  struck  that  blow  which  saved  your  life,  and 
which  you  knew  was  meant  to  save  it,  and  you  seen 
his  sword  shot  out  of  his  hand  and  three  or  four  Yan 
kees  makin'  a  dead  set  to  kill  him,  and  nothin'  else  in 
any  particular  danger  at  all,  why  was  it,  Mr.  Ghol- 
son,  that  you  never  turned  a  hand  nor  an  eye  to  save 
him?"' 

"  Great  Scott!  wha'd  Gholson  say?  " 

"  Gholson,  s'e,  '  I  done  as  I  done,  sir,  from  my  high 
est  sense  o'  duty.  This  ain't  Lieutenant  Helm's  own 
little  private  war,  Lieutenant  Quinn,  nor  mine,  nor 
yours/  " 

"  Jo' !  that  to  Quinn !  wha'd  Quinn  answer  ?  " 

"  Why,  with  that  Quinn  popped  them  big  glass  eyes 
o'  his'n  till  the  whites  showed  clear  round  the  blue,  and 
s'e  '  I  know  it  better  than  you  do ;  that's  just  what  it 
suited  you  to  forget.  Oh !  I'd  already  seen  through  you 
in  one  flash,  you  sneak.  It's  good  for  you  you're  not 
in  my  command ;  I'd  lift  you  to  a  higher  sense  of  whose 
war  this  is,  damn  you,  if  I  had  to  hang  you  up  by  the 
thumbs.'  With  that  he  started  right  on  by,  Gholson 
a-keepin'  his  face  to  him  as  he  passed,  when  Ned  Ferry 
and — her — came  out  o'  the  parlor,  and  Ned  turned  out 
on  the  rear  gallery  with  Quinn  while  she  sort  o'  smiled 
at  Gholson  to  come  to  her  and  sent  him  off  on  some 
business  or  other.  George !  I  never  seen  her  so  beauti 
ful." 

Thereupon  occurred  a  brief  exchange  of  comments 
which  seemed  to  me  to  carry  by  implication  as  fine  a 

167 


The  Cavalier 

praise  as  could  possibly  come  from  two  rough  fellows 
of  the  camp.  Speaking  the  names  of  Ferry  and  Char 
lotte  in  undertone,  of  course,  but  with  the  unrestraint 
of  soldiers,  they  said  their  say  without  a  shadow  of 
inuendo  in  word  or  smile.  Her  presence,  they  agreed, 
always  made  them  feel  as  though  something  out  of 
the  common  "  was  bound  to  happen  pretty  quick," 
while  his,  they  said,  assured  them  that  "  whatever  did 
happen  would  happen  right."  I  turned  with  a  frown 
as  Harry  laughed  irrelevantly,  and  saw  Camille  and 
him  smiling  at  me  with  childish  playfulness.  Then 
suddenly  their  smile  changed  and  went  beyond  me, 
two  or  three  men  softly  said  "  Smith !  "  and  I  was  out 
of  my  chair  and  standing  when  Charlotte  Oliver,  in 
a  low  voice,  tenderly  accosted  me. 

"  Oh,  Richard  Thorndyke  Smith ! — alive  and  well ! 
Lieutenant  Ferry  wants  you;  he  has  just  gone  to  his 
camp-fire." 

XXXVII 

A  HORSE!    A  HORSE! 

NIGHT  had  fully  come.  A  few  bivouac  fires  burned 
low  in  the  grove,  and  at  one  of  them  near  the  grove 
gate  I  found  our  young  commander.  On  a  bench  made 
of  a  fence-rail  and  two  forked  stakes  he  sat  between 
Quinn  and  the  first-lieutenant  of  the  Louisianians. 
The  doctor  whom  I  had  seen  before  sat  humped  on  his 
horse,  facing  the  three  young  men  and  making  clumsy 
excuses  to  Ferry  for  leaving.  The  other  physician 
would  stay  for  some  time  yet,  he  said,  and  he,  himself, 

168 


A  Horse!     A  Horse! 

was  leaving  his  instruments,  such  as  they  were,  and 
would  return  in  the  morning.  "  Fact  is,  my  son's  a 
surgeon,  and  he  taken  all  my  best  mstru-ments  with 
him." 

"  When ;  where  is  he  ?  "  eagerly  asked  Quinn,  see 
ing  Ferry  was  not  going  to  ask. 

"  My  son  ?    Oh,  he's  in  Virginia,  with  General  Lee." 

"  Hell !  "  grunted  Quinn,  but  the  doctor  pretended 
to  listen  to  Ferry. 

"  Ah,  but  we  move  south  at  day-light;  the  prisoners 
and  wounded  we  send  east,  to  Hazlehurst,"  said  our 
leader,  with  a  restraining  hand  on  Quinn's  knee.  The 
other  lieutenant  made  some  inquiry  of  him,  and  the 
doctor  was  ignored,  but  stayed  on,  and  as  I  stood  wait 
ing  to  be  noticed  I  gathered  a  number  of  facts.  The 
lightly  injured  would  go  in  a  plantation  wagon;  for 
the  fewr  gravely  hurt  there  was  the  Harpers'  ambulance, 
which  had  just  arrived  to  take  the  ladies  back  to  Squire 
Wall's,  near  Brookhaven,  alas !  instead  of  to  Louisiana. 
For  the  ladies  Charlotte's  spring-wagon  was  to  be  ap 
propriated,  one  of  them  riding  beside  it  on  horseback, 
and  there  was  to  be  sent  with  them,  besides  Charlotte's 
old  black  driver,  "  a  reliable  man  well  mounted."  Who 
ever  that  was  to  be  it  was  not  Harry,  for  he  was  to 
go  south  with  a  small  guard,  bearing  the  body  of  the 
Louisiana  captain  to  his  home  between  the  hostile 
lines  behind  Port  Hudson. 

"  Good-night,  gentle-men"  said  the  doctor  at  last. 
As  he  passed  into  the  darkness  Quinn  bent  a  mock 
frown  upon  his  young  superior. 

"  Lieutenant  Ferry,  the  next  time  I  have  to  express 
169 


The  Cavalier 

my  disgust  please  to  keep  your  hand  off  my  knee,  will 
you?" 

Ferry's  response  was  to  lay  it  back  again  and  there 
ensued  a  puerile  tussle  that  put  me  in  a  precious  pout, 
that  I  should  be  kept  waiting  by  such  things.  But 
presently  the  three  parted  to  resume  their  several  cares, 
and  the  moment  Ferry  touched  my  arm  to  turn  me 
back  toward  the  house  I  was  once  more  his  worshipper. 
"  Well !  "  he  began,  "  you  have  now  two  fine  horses, 
eh?" 

"  Oh,  by  Regulations,  I  suppose,  I  ought  to  turn  one 
of  them  over  to  Major  Harper.  I  wish  it  were  to  you, 
Lieutenant;  Yd  keep  my  own — he'll  be  all  right  in  a 
day  or  two — and  give  you  Captain  Jewett's." 

"  Well, — just  for  a  day  or  two, — do  that,  while  I 
lend  my  horse  to  a  friend." 

I  had  already  asked  myself  what  was  to  become  of 
Charlotte  Oliver  while  the  Harpers  were  preempting 
her  little  wagon,  and  now  I  took  keen  alarm.  "  Why, 
Lieutenant,  I  shall  be  glad !  But  why  not  lend  Captain 
Jewett's  horse  and  keep  yours?  Yours  is  right  now 
the  finest  and  freshest  mount  in  the  command." 

"  Yes,  'tis  for  that  I  lend  him." 

We  went  on  in  silence.  Startled  and  distressed,  I 
pondered.  What  was  her  new  purpose,  that  she  should 
ask,  or  even  accept,  such  a  favor  as  this  from  Ned 
Ferry ;  a  favor  which,  within  an  hour,  the  whole  com 
mand  would  know  he  had  granted  ?  Was  this  a  trifle, 
which  only  the  Gholson-like  smallness  of  my  soul  made 
spectral?  The  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  Ferry  with 
any  of  his  followers  about  him,  was  he  not  on  Char- 

170 


A  Horse!     A  Horse  1 

lotte's  gray,  now,  unluckily,  beyond  reach,  at  Wig 
gins?  Ah,  yes;  but  Beauty  lending  a  horse  to  speed 
Valor  was  one  thing;  Valor  unhorsing  himself  to 
speed  Beauty — oh,  how  different!  What  was  the  all- 
subordinating  need? 

As  we  entered  the  hall  I  came  to  a  conviction  which 
lightened  my  heart;  the  all-subordinating  need  was — 
Oliver.  I  thought  I  could  see  why.  The  spring  of 
all  his  devilish  behavior  lay  in  those  relations  to  her 
for  which  I  knew  she  counted  herself  chargeable 
through  her  past  mistakes.  Unless  I  guessed  wrong 
her  motives  had  risen.  I  believed  her  aim  was  now, 
at  whatever  self-hazard,  to  stop  this  hideous  one- 
woman's  war,  and  to  speed  her  unfinished  story  to  the 
fairest  possible  outcome  for  all  God's  creatures,  how 
ever  splendidly  or  miserably  the  "  fool  in  it "  should 
win  or  lose.  We  stopped  and  waited  for  Cecile  and 
the  remaining  doctor,  she  with  a  lighted  candle,  to 
come  down  the  stairs.  From  two  rooms  below,  where 
most  of  the  wounded  lay,  there  came  women's  voices 
softly  singing,  and  Charlotte's  was  among  them.  Their 
song  was  one  listening  to  which  many  a  boy  in  blue, 
many  a  lad  in  gray,  has  died :  "  Rock  me  to  sleep, 
mother." 

Cecile  and  the  doctor  had  come  from  the  bedside  of 
the  Union  captain,  where  Miss  Harper  remained. 
"  I've  done  all  I  can,"  he  said  to  Ferry;  "we  old 
chill-and-fever  doctors  wa'n't  made  for  war-times;  he 
may  get  well  and  he  may  not." 

"  Smith,"  said  Ferry,  "  go  up  and  stay  with  him  till 
further  orders." 

171 


The  Cavalier 

XXXVIII 

'"*  BEAR  A  MESSAGE  AND  A  TOKEN  W 

LATE  in  the  night  Gholson  came  to  the  Union  cap 
tain's  bedside  for  Miss  Harper.  Charlotte  had  sent 
him;  the  doctor  had  left  word  what  to  do  if  a  certain 
patient's  wound  should  re-open,  and  this  had  happened. 
The  three  had  succeeded  in  stanching  it,  but  Charlotte 
had  prevailed  upon  Miss  Harper  to  lie  down,  and  the 
wear}^  lady  had,  against  all  her  intentions,  fallen  asleep. 
I  was  alone  with  the  wounded  captain.  He  did  not 
really  sleep,  but  under  the  weight  of  his  narcotics 
drowsed,  muttered,  stirred,  moaned,  and  now  and  then 
spoke  out. 

Sitting  in  the  open  window,  I  marked  the  few  red 
points  of  dying  firelight  grow  fewer  in  the  bivouac 
under  the  grove.  Out  there  by  the  gate  Ned  Ferry 
slept.  Fireflies  blinked,  and  beyond  the  hazy  fields  rose 
the  wasted  moon,  by  the  regal  slowness  of  whose  march 
I  measured  the  passage  of  time  as  I  had  done  two 
nights  before.  My  vigil  was  a  sad  one,  but,  in  health, 
in  love,  in  the  last  of  my  teens  and  in  the  silent  com 
pany  of  such  a  moon,  my  straying  thoughts  lingered 
most  about  the  maiden  who  had  "  prayed  for  me."  My 
hopes  grew  mightily.  Yet  with  them  grew  my  sense 
of  need  to  redouble  a  lover's  diligence.  I  resolved  never 
again  to  leave  great  gaps  in  my  line  of  circumvallation 
about  the  city  of  my  siege,  as  I  had  done  in  the  past 
—two  days.  I  should  move  to  the  final  assault,  now, 

172 


"Bear  a  Message  and  a  Token" 

at  the  earliest  favorable  moment,  and  the  next  should 
see  the  rose-red  flag  of  surrender  rise  on  her  temples ; 
in  war  it  is  white,  but  in  love  it  is  red. 

First  favorable  moment;  ah!  but  when  would  that 
be?  Who  was  to  convey  the  Harpers  to  Hazlehurst? 
Well,  thank  Heaven!  not  Harry.  Scott  Gholson? 
Gholson  was  due  at  headquarters.  Poor  Gholson! 
much  rest  for  racked  nerves  had  he  found  here ;  what 
with  Ferry,  and  Harry,  and  the  fight,  and  Quinn,  I 
wondered  he  did  not  lie  down  and  die  under  the  pure 
suffocation  of  his  "  tchagrin."  Even  a  crocodile,  I  be 
lieved,  could  suffer  from  chagrin,  give  him  as  many 
good  causes  as  Gholson  had  accumulated.  But  no,  the 
heaven  of  "  Charlie  Tolliver's "  presence  and  com 
mands — she  seemed  to  have  taken  entire  possession  of 
him — lifted  and  sustained  him  above  the  clouds  of  all 
unkinder  things. 

A  faint  stir  at  the  threshold  caught  my  ear  and  I 
discerned  in  the  hall  a  young  negro  woman.  The  light 
of  an  unseen  candle  made  her  known  at  a  glance ;  she 
had  been  here  since  the  previous  evening,  as  I  knew, 
though  it  chanced  that  I  had  not  seen  her;  Oliver's 
best  wedding-gift,  the  slave  maid  whom  I  had  seen 
with  Charlotte  in  the  curtained  wagon  at  Gallatin.  I 
stole  out  to  her ;  she  courtesied.  "  Miss  Charlotte  say 
ef  you  want  he'p  you  fine  me  a-sett'n'  on  de  step  o'  de 
stairs  hafe-ways  down." 

I  inquired  if  she  was  leaving  us.  "  She  a-gitt'n' 
ready,  suh;  Misteh  Goshen  done  gone  to  de  sta-able 
to  git  de  hosses."  The  girl  suddenly  seemed  pleased 
with  herself.  "  Mis'  Charlotte  would  'a'  been  done 

'73 


The  Cavalier 

gone  when  de  yethehs  went — dem-ah  two  scouts  what 
was  sent  ayfteh  him — ef  I  hadn'  spoke'  up  when  I  did." 

"  Indeed !  how  was  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  says,  s'  I,  '  Mis'  Charlotte,  how  we  know 
he  ain'  gwine  fo'  to  double  on  his  huntehs?  Betteh 
wait  a  spell,  and  den  ef  no  word  come  back  dat  he 
a-doublin',  you  kin  be  sho'  he  done  lit  out  fo'  to  jine 
de  Yankees  roun'  Pote  Hudsom.'  " 

"  Why  did  you  tell  her  that  ?  You  want  him  caught ; 
so  do  I ;  but  you  know  she  doesn't  want  to  catch  him, 
and  you  don't  want  her  to.  Neither  do  I.  Nor  neither 
do  we  want  Lieutenant  Ferry  to  catch  him." 

"  No,  suh,  dass  so.  But  same  time,  while  she  no 
notion  o'  gitt'n'  him  cotch,  she  believe  she  dess  djuty 
bound  to  head-off  his  devil-went.  Tis  dess  like  I 
heah'  Mr.  Goshen  say  to  Miss  Hahpeh,  '  Dis  ain't  ow 
own  liT  pri'— '  " 

I  waved  her  away  and  went  back  into  the  room ;  the 
Captain  had  called.  He  asked  the  time  of  night;  I 
said  it  was  well  after  two;  he  murmured,  was  quiet, 
and  after  a  moment  spoke  my  name.  I  answered,  and 
he  whispered  "  Coralie  Rothvelt — she's  here ;  I — rec 
ognized  her  voice — when  they  were  singing.  Did  you 
know  I  knew  her  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Captain." 

"  Daring  game  that  was  you  fellows  let  her  put  up 
on  us  night  before  last,  my  boy, — and  it  hung  by  a 
thread.  If  our  officers  had  only  asked  the  old  man 
his  name — it  would  have  been — a  flash  of  light.  If  I 
had  dreamed,  when  I  saw — you  and  Ned  Ferry — yes 
terday, — that  Coralie  Rothvelt  was — Charlotte  Oliver, 

174 


"Bear  a  Message  and  a  Token' 

— and  could  have  known  her  then — as  I've — learned 
to  know  her — to-day — from  her — worst  enemy, — you 
know,—" 

"  Yes,  Captain." 

"  I  should — have  turned  back;  my  boy."  After  a  si 
lence  the  hero  said  more  to  himself  than  to  me  "  Ah, 
if  my  brother  were  here  to-night — I  might  live !  " 

Many  days  afterward  I  thought  myself  dull  not  to 
have  guessed  what  that  speech  meant,  but  now  I  was 
too  distressed  by  the  change  I  saw  coming  over  him  to 
do  any  surmising.  He  began  to  say  things  entirely  to 
himself.  "  Home !  "  he  murmured ;  "  sweet,  sweet 
home ! — my  home !  my  country  ! — My  God,  my  coun 
try,  my  home ! — Smith, — you  know  what  that  is  you're 
— wiping  off  my  brow, — don't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Captain." 

"  I — I  didn't  want  you  to  be — taken  too  unpleasantly 
by  surprise — just  at  the — end.  You  know  what's — 
happening, — don't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Captain."  As  I  wiped  the  brow  again  I  heard 
the  tread  of  two  horses  down  in  front  of  the  house; 
they  were  Gholson's,  and  Ned  Ferry's  for  Charlotte. 
"  Captain,  may  I  go  and  bring  her — tell  her  what  you 
say,  and  bring  her  ?  " 

"  Do  you  think  she'd  come  ?  She'd  have  gone  to 
Ship  Island  if  I  had  caught  her." 

"  I  know  she'll  come." 

"  I  wish  she  would ;  she  could  '  bear  a  message  and 
a  token/  as  the  song  says." 

She  came.  I  met  her  outside  the  door,  and  for  a 
moment  I  feared  she  would  come  no  farther.  "  How 

175 


The  Cavalier 

can  I,  Richard !  Oh,  how  can  I  ?  "  she  whispered ;  "  this 
is  my  doing !  "  But  presently  she  stood  at  the  bed 
side  calm  and  compassionate,  in  the  dark  dress  and  limp 
hat  of  two  nights  before.  The  dying  man's  eyes  were 
lustrous  with  gratitude. 

"  I  have  one  or  two  things,"  he  said,  after  a  few 
words  of  greeting,  "  that  I'd  like  to  send  home — to 
my  mother — and  my  wife;  some  trifles — and  a  mes 
sage  or  two ;  if  I — if — if  I — " 

r  "  Will  you  let  me  take  them  ?  "  Charlotte  asked.  I 
did  not  see  or  hear  what  they  were ;  Gholson  beckoned 
me  into  the  hall.  He  did  not  whisper ;  there  are  some 
people,  you  know,  who  can  never  exercise  enough  self- 
suppression  to  whisper;  he  mumbled.  He  admitted 
the  dying  had  some  rights,  but — he  feared  the  delay 
might  result  unfortunately;  wanted  me  to  tell  Char 
lotte  so,  and  was  sure  I  was  ever  so  wrong  to  ask 
to  have  Ned  Ferry  awakened  for  the  common  incident 
of  a  prisoner's  death;  he  would  let  him  know  the 
moment  he  awoke. 

When  I  came  back  into  the  room  the  captive  had 
asked  Charlotte  to  pray.  "  Tisn't  that  I'm— the  least 
bit  afraid,"  he  was  saying. 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  responded,  wiping  his  brow,  "  why 
should  you  be?  Dying  isn't  nearly  so  fearful  a  thing 
as  living.  I'd  rather,  now,  you'd  pray  for  me;  I'm 
such  an  unbeliever — in  the  beliefs,  I  mean,  the  beliefs 
the  church  people  think  we  can't  get  on  without.  My 
religion  is  scarcely  anything  but  longings  and  striv 
ings  " — she  sadly  smiled — "  longings  and  strivings  and 
hopes." 

176 


Charlotte  Sings 


"  Yet  you  wouldn't—" 

"  Part  with  it  ?    Oh,  not  for  the  world  beside !  " 

"  Neither  would  I — with  mine."  The  soldier  folded 
his  hands  in  supplication.  "  Neither  would  I — though 
mine,  O  Lord — is  only  the — old-fashioned  sort — for 
whose  beliefs  our  fathers — used  to  kill  one  another; 
God  have  mercy — on  them — and  us." 

There  was  a  great  stillness.  Against  the  bedside 
Charlotte  had  sunk  to  her  knees,  and  under  the  broad 
brim  of  her  Leghorn  hat  leaned  her  brow  upon  her 
folded  hands.  Thus,  presently,  she  spoke  again. 


XXXIX 

CHARLOTTE  SINGS 

"  I  KNOW,  Captain,"  she  said,  "  that  we  can't  have 
longings,  strivings,  or  hopes,  without  beliefs;  beliefs 
are  what  they  live  on.  I  believe  in  being  strong  and 
sweet  and  true  for  the  pure  sake  of  being  so ;  and  yet 
more  for  the  world's  sake;  and  as  much  more  again 
for  God's  sake  as  God  is  greater  than  his  works.  I 
believe  in  beauty  and  in  joy.  I  believe  they  are  the  goal 
of  all  goodness  and  of  all  God's  work  and  wish.  As 
to  resurrection,  punishment,  and  reward,  I  can't  see 
what  my  noblest  choice  has  to  do  with  them ;  they  seem 
to  me  to  be  God's  part  of  the  matter;  mine  is  to  love 
perfect  beauty  and  perfect  joy,  both  in  and  infinitely 
beyond  myself,  with  the  desiring  love  with  which  I  re 
joice  to  believe  God  loves  them,  and  to  pity  the  lack 

177 


The  Cavalier 

of  them  with  the  loving  pity  with  which  God  pities 

it.    And  above  all  I  believe  that  no  beauty  and  no  joy 

\  can  be  perfect  apart  from  a  love  that  loves  the  whole 

World's  joy  better  than  any  separate  joy  of  any  sepa- 

Jrate  soul." 

"Thank  you,"  was  murmured  from  the  pillow. 
Then,  as  Charlotte  once  more  wiped  the  damp  brow, 
the  captive  said,  with  much  labor,  "  After  that — war 
seems — an  awful  thing.  I  suppose  it  isn't  half  so 
much  a  crime — as  it  is  a — penalty — for  the  crimes 
that  bring  it  on.  But  anyhow — you  know — being — " 
The  bugle  rang  out  the  reveille. 

"  Being  a  soldier,"  said  Charlotte,  "  you  want  to  die 
like  one?" 

"  Yes,  oh,  yes !— the  best  I  can.  I'd  like  to  sit  half 
up — and  hold  my  sword — if  there's — no  objection. 
I've  loved  it  so!  It  would  almost  be  like  holding — 
the  hand  that's  far  away.  Of  course,  it  isn't  really 
necessary,  but — it  would  be  more  like — dying — for  my 
country." 

He  would  not  have  it  in  the  scabbard,  and  when  I 
laid  it  naked  in  his  hand  he  kissed  the  hilt.  Charlotte 
sent  Gholson  for  Ned  Ferry.  Glancing  from  the  win 
dow,  I  noticed  that  for  some  better  convenience  our 
scouts  had  left  the  grove,  and  the  prisoners  had  been 
marched  in  and  huddled  close  to  the  veranda-steps, 
under  their  heavy  marching-guard  of  Louisianians. 
One  of  the  blue-coats  called  up  to  me  softly :  "  Dying 
— really  ?  "  He  turned  to  his  fellows — "  Boys,  Cap 
tain's  dying." 

Every  Northern  eye  was  lifted  to  the  window  and  I 


Charlotte  Sings 


turned  away.  "  Richard !  "  gently  called  Charlotte,  and 
I  saw  the  end  was  at  hand ;  a  new  anguish  was  on  the 
brow ;  yet  the  soldier  was  asking  for  a  song ;  "  a  sol 
dier's  song,  will  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  Captain,"  she  replied,  "  you  know,  we  don't 
sing  the  same  words  to  our  soldier-songs  that  you  do 
— except  in  the  hymns.  Shall  I  sing  *  Am  I  a  soldier 
of  the  cross?1" 

He  did  not  answer  promptly;  but  when  he  did  he 
said  "  Yes— sing  that." 

She  sang  it.  As  the  second  stanza  was  begun  we 
heard  a  responsive  swell  grow  softly  to  fuller  and  fuller 
volume  beneath  the  windows ;  the  prisoners  were  sing 
ing.  I  heard  an  austere  voice  forbid  it,  but  it  rose 
straight  on  from  strength  to  strength: 

"  Sure  I  must  fight  if  I  would  win, 

Increase  my  courage,  Lord. 
I'll  bear  the  toil,  endure  the  pain, 
Supported  by  thy  word. " 

The  dying  man  lifted  a  hand  and  Charlotte  ceased. 
He  had  not  heard  the  muffled  chorus  of  his  followers 
below;  or  it  may  be  that  he  had,  and  that  the  degree 
of  liberty  they  seemed  to  be  enjoying  prompted  him  to 
seek  the  new  favor  he  now  asked.  I  did  not  catch 
his  words,  but  Charlotte  heard,  and  answered  tenderly, 
yet  with  a  thrill  of  pain  so  keen  she  could  not  conceal 
it  even  from  him. 

"  Oh !  you  wouldn't  ask  a  rebel  to  sing  that,"  she 
sighed,  "  would  you?  " 

He  made  no  rejoinder  except  that  his  eyes  were  in- 

179 


The  Cavalier 

sistent.  She  wiped  his  temples.  "  I  hate  to  refuse 
you." 

His  gaze  was  grateful.  She  spoke  again :  "  I  sup 
pose  I  oughtn't  to  mind  it." 

Miss  Harper  came  in,  and  Charlotte,  taking  her  hand 
without  a  glance,  told  the  Captain's  hard  request  under 
her  voice.  Miss  Harper,  too,  in  her  turn,  gave  a  start 
of  pain,  but  when  the  dying  eyes  and  smile  turned 
pleadingly  to  her  she  said,  "  Why,  if  you  can,  Charlotte, 
dear,  but  oh !  how  can  you  ?  " 

Charlotte  addressed  the  wounded  man :  "  Just  a  little 
bit  of  it,  will  that  do?"  and  as  he  eagerly  assented  she 
added,  to  Miss  Harper,  "  You  know,  dear,  in  its  history 
it's  no  more  theirs  than  ours." 

"  No,  not  so  much,"  said  Miss  Harper,  with  a  gleam 
of  pride;  and  thereupon  it  was  my  amazement  to  hear 
Charlotte  begin  guardedly  to  sing: 

41  O  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 
What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming  ?  " 

But  guardedly  as  she  began,  the  effect  on  the  huddled 
crowd  below  was  instant  and  electrical.  They  heard 
almost  the  first  note;  looking  down  anxiously,  I  saw 
the  wonder  and  enthusiasm  pass  from  man  to  man. 
They  heard  the  first  two  lines  in  awed,  ecstatic  silence; 
but  at  the  third,  warily,  first  one,  then  three,  then  a 
dozen,  then  a  score,  bereft  of  arms,  standard,  and  leader, 
Iktle  counting  ever  again  to  see  freedom,  flag,  or  home, 
tfhey  raised  their  voices,  by  the  dawn's  early  light,  in 
their  song  of  songs. 

I  JDur  main  body  were  out  in  the  highway,  just  facing 

1 80 


Charlotte  Sings 


into  column,  and  the  effect  on  them  I  could  not  see. 
The  prisoners*  guards,  though  instantly  ablaze  with  in 
dignation,  were  so  taken  by  surprise  that  for  two  or 
three  seconds,  with  carbines  at  a  ready,  they — and  even 
their  sergeant  in  command — only  darted  fierce  looks 
here  and  there  and  up  at  me.  The  prisoners  must  have 
been  used  to  singing  in  ordered  chorus,  for  one  of  them 
strode  into  their  middle,  and  smiling  sturdily  at  the 
maddened  guard  and  me,  led  the  song  evenly.  "  No, 
sir !  "  he  cried,  as  I  made  an  angry  sign  for  them  to 
desist,  "  one  verse  through,  if  every  damned  fool  of  us 
dies  for  it — let  the  Captain  hear  it  boys — sing! 

44  4  The  rockets'  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air ' " 

Charlotte  had  ceased,  in  consternation  not  for  the  con 
ditions  without  more  than  for  those  within.  With  the 
first  strong  swell  of  the  song  from  below,  the  dying 
leader  strove  to  sit  upright  and  to  lift  his  blade,  but 
failed  and  would  have  slammed  back  upon  the  pillows 
had  not  she  and  Miss  Harper  saved  him.  He  lay  in 
their  arms  gasping  his  last,  yet  clutching  his  sabre  with 
a  quivering  hand  and  listening  on  with  rapt  face  un 
troubled  by  the  fiery  tumult  of  cries  that  broke  into  and 
over  the  strain. 

"  Club  that  man  over  the  head !  "  cried  the  sergeant 
of  the  guard,  and  one  of  his  men  swung  a  gun;  but  the 
Yankee  sprang  inside  of  its  sweep,  crying,  "  Sing  her 
through,  boys!  "  grappled  his  opponent,  and  hurled  him 
back.  In  the  same  instant  the  sergeant  called  steadily, 
"  Guard,  ready — aim — " 

There  sounded  a  clean  slap  of  levelled  carbines,  yet 
181 


The  Cavalier 

from  the  prisoners  came  the  continued  song  in  its  clos 
ing  couplet: 

"  The  star-spangled  banner  !  O,  long  may  it  wave  !— " 

and  out  of  the  midst  of  its  swell  the  oaths  and  curses 
and  defiant  laughter  of  a  dozen  men  crying,  with  tears 
in  their  eyes,  "  Shoot!  shoot!  why  don't  you  shoot?  " 

But  the  command  to  fire  did  not  come;  suddenly  there 
was  a  drumming  of  hoofs,  then  their  abrupt  stoppage, 
and  the  voice  of  a  vigilant  commander  called,  "  Atten 
tion!" 

With  a  few  words  to  the  sergeant,  more  brief  than 
harsh,  and  while  the  indomitable  singers  pressed  on  to 
the  very  close  of  the  stanza  without  a  sign  from  him  to 
desist,  Ferry  bade  the  subaltern  resume  his  command, 
and  turned  toward  me  at  the  window.  He  lifted  his 
sword  and  spoke  in  a  lowered  tone,  the  sullen  guard 
stood  to  their  arms,  and  every  captive  looked  up  for  my 
reply. 

"  Shall  I  come?  "  he  inquired;  but  I  shook  my  head. 

"  What! — gone?  "  he  asked  again,  and  I  nodded.  He 
turned  and  trotted  lightly  after  the  departing  column. 
I  remember  his  pensive  mien  as  he  moved  down  the 
grove,  and  how  a  soft  gleam  flashed  from  his  sword, 
above  his  head,  as  with  the  hand  that  held  it  he  fingered 
his  slender  mustache,  and  how  another  gleam  followed 
it  as  he  reversed  the  blade  and  let  it  into  its  sheath. 
Then  my  eyes  lost  him;  for  Gholson  had  taken  his  place 
under  the  window  and  was  beckoning  for  my  attention. 

"  Is  she  coming?  "  he  called  up,  and  Charlotte,  at  my 
side,  spoke  downward: 

182 


Harry  Laughs 


"  I  shall  be  with  you  in  a  moment." 

While  he  waited  the  second  lieutenant  of  the  Louis- 
ianians  came,  and  as  guard  and  prisoners  started  away 
she  came  out  upon  the  veranda  steps.  Across  her  knee, 
as  she  and  Gholson  galloped  off  by  a  road  across  fields, 
lay  in  a  wrapping  of  corn-husks  the  huge  sabre  of  the 
dead  northerner. 

XL 

HARRY   LAUGHS 

THE  first  hush  of  the  deserted  camp-ground  was  lost 
in  the  songs  of  returning  birds.  Captain  Jewett,  his 
majestic  length  blanket-bound  from  brow  to  heel  as 
trimly  as  a  bale,  had  been  laid  under  ground,  and  the 
Harpers  stood  in  prayer  at  the  grave's  head  and  foot 
with  hats  on  for  their  journey.  The  burial  squad, 
turned  guard  of  honor  to  the  dead  captain  of  the  Louis- 
ianians,  were  riding  away  on  either  side  of  a  light  wagon 
that  bore  his  mortal  part.  I,  after  all,  was  to  be  the 
Harpers'  guardian  on  their  way. 

Day  widened  into  its  first  perfection  as  we  moved 
down  the  highroad  toward  a  near  fork  whose  right  was 
to  lead  Harry  and  his  solemn  cortege  southward,  while 
the  left  should  be  our  eastward  course.  Camille  and 
I  rode  horseback,  side  by  side,  with  no  one  near  enough 
to  smile  at  my  sentimental  laudations  of  the  morning's 
splendors,  or  at  her  for  repaying  my  eloquence  with 
looks  so  full  of  tender  worship,  personal  acceptance  and  . 
£clf-bestOwal,  that  to  tell  of  them  here  would  make  as  I 

183 


The  Cavalier 

poor  a  show  as  to  lift  a  sea-flower  out  of  the  sea;  they 
call  for  piccolo  notes  and  I  am  no  musician. 

The  familiar  little  leather-curtained  wagon  was  just 
ahead  of  us,  bearing  the  other  three  Harpers,  the  old 
negro  driver  and — to  complete  its  overloading — his 
daughter,  Charlotte's  dark  maid.  Beside  the  wheels 
ambled  and  babbled  Harry  Helm.  At  the  bridge  he 
fell  back  to  us  and  found  us  talking  of  Charlotte.  Ca- 
mille  was  telling  me  how  well  Charlotte  knew  the  region 
south  of  us,  and  how  her  plan  was  to  dine  at  mid-day 
with  such  a  friend  and  to  pass  the  night  with  such  an 
other;  but  the  moment  Harry  came  up  she  began  to 
upbraid  him  in  her  mellowest  flute-notes  for  not  telling 
us  that  he  had  got  his  wound  in  saving — 

"  Now,  you  ladies — "  cried  the  teased  aide-de-camp, 
"  I — I  didn't  save  Gholson's  life !  I  didn't  try  to  save 
it!  I  only  tried  to  split  a  Yankee's  head  and  didn't 
even  do  that!  Dick  Smith,  if  you  tell  anybody  else 
that  I  saved —  Well,  who  did,  then?  Good  Lordy!  if 
I'd  known  that  to  save  a  man's  life  would  make  all  this 
fuss  I  wouldn't  V  done  it!  Why,  Quinn  and  I  had 
to  sit  and  listen  to  Ned  Ferry  a  solid  half-hour  last 
night,  telling  us  the  decent  things  he'd  known  Gholson 
to  do,  and  the  allowances  we'd  ought  to  make  for  a  man 
with  Gholson's  sort  of  a  conscience !  And  then,  to  cap 
— to  clap — to  clap  the  ki' — to  cap — the  climax — con- 
sound  that  word,  I  never  did  know  what  it  meant — to 
clap  the  climax,  Ned  sends  for  Gholson  and  gets  Quinn 
to  speak  to  him  civilly — aw,  haw,  haw ! — Quinn  show 
ing  all  the  time  how  he  hated  the  job,  like  a  cat  when 
you  make  him  jump  over  a  stick !  And  then  he  led  us 

184 


Harry  Laughs 


on,  with  just  a  word  here  and  there,  until  we  all  agreed 
as  smooth  as  glass,  that  all  Quinn  had  said  was  my 
fault,  and  all  I  had  done  was  Gholson's  fault,  and  all 
Gholson  had  said  or  done  or  left  undone  was  our  fault, 
and  the  rest  was  partly  Ned's  fault,  but  mostly  accident. 

Camille  declared  she  did  not  and  would  not  believe 
there  had  been  any  fault  with  any  one,  anywhere,  and 
especially  with  Mr.  Gholson,  and  I  liked  Lieutenant 
Helm  less  than  ever,  noticing  anew  the  unaccountable 
freedom  with  which  Camille  seemed  to  think  herself  en 
titled  to  rebuke  him.  "  Oh,  I'm  in  your  power,"  he  cried 
to  her,  "  and  I'll  call  him  a  spotless  giraffe  if  you  want 
me  to!  that's  what  he  is;  I've  always  thought  so!  "  The 
spring-wagon  was  taking  the  left  fork  and  he  cantered 
ahead  to  begin  his  good-byes  there  and  save  her  for 
the  last.  When  he  made  his  adieu  to  her  he  said, 
"  Won't  you  let  Mr.  Smith  halt  here  with  me  a  few  mo 
ments  ?  I  want  to  speak  of  one  or  two  matters  that — " 

She  resigned  me  almost  with  scorn;  which  privately 
amused  me,  and,  I  felt  sure,  hoodwinked  the  aide-de 
camp. 

"  Say,  Dick !  "  he  began,  as  she  moved  away,  "  look 
here,  I'm  going  to  tell  you  something;  Ned  Ferry's 
in  love  with  Charlotte  Oliver!  " 

"You  don't  mean  it!" 

"  Yes,  I  do,  mean  it!  Smith,  Ned's  a  grand  fellow. 
I'm  glad  I  came  here  yesterday." 

"  Yes,  you've  secured  a  furlough." 

"  Oh,  this  thing,  yes ;  don't  you  wish  you  had  it !  No, 
I'm  glad  I  came,  for  what  I've  learned.  I'm  glad  for 
.what  Ned  Ferry  has  taught  me  a  man  can  do,  and  keep 

185 


The  Cavalier 

from  doing,  when  he's  got  the  upper  hold  of  himself. 
And  I'm  glad  for  what  she — you  know  who — by 
George!  any  man  would  know  who  ever  saw  her,  for 
she  draws  every  man  who  comes  within  her  range,  as 
naturally  as  a  rose  draws  a  bee.  I'm  glad  for  what 
she  has  taught  me  a  woman  can  be,  and  can  keep  from 
being,  so  long  as  she  knows  there's  one  real  man  to  live 
up  to!  just  up  to,  mind  you,  I  don't  even  say  to  live 
for." 

I  stared  with  surprise.     Was  this  the  trivial  Harry 

\talking?     Fact  is,  the  pair  we  were  talking  about  had 

)y  some  psychical  magic  rarified  the  atmosphere  for 

ill  of  us  until  half  our  notes  were  above  our  normal 

>itch. 

"Do  you  mean  she  loves  him;  what  sign  of  such  a 
thing  did  she  show  yesterday  or  last  evening  ?  " 

"  Not  a  sign  of  a  sign!  And  yet  I'll  swear  it!  Do 
you  know  where  she's  gone?  " 

"To-day?    I  think  I  do." 

"Where?" 

"  Well,  Lieutenant,  if  I  were  she,  7  should  go  straight 
into  the  Yankee  lines  behind  Port  Hudson.  She's  got 
Jewett's  messages  and  his  sword,  and  the  Yank's  won't 
know  her  as  a  Confederate  any  better  than  they  ever 
did;  for  it's  only  these  men  whom  we've  captured  who 
have  found  out  she's  Charlotte  Oliver,  or  that  she  had 
any  knowing  part  in  General  Austin's  ruse." 

"  If  Oliver  doesn't  tell,"  said  Harry,  lifting  his  bad 
hand  in  pain. 

"  He  will  not  dare!  If  she  can  only  get  her  word  in 
first  and  tell  them,  herself,  that  he's  Charlotte  Oliver's 

1 86 


Harry  Laughs 


husband  and  has  just  led  the  finest  company  of  Federal 
scouts  in  the  two  States  to  destruction — " 

"  Hi !  that  ought  to  cook  his  dough ! — with  her  face 
— and  her  voice !  " 

"  Yes,"  I  responded,  "  —  and  his  breath." 

"  And  why  do  you  think  she  wants  to  do  this?  "  asked 
Harry. 

"She  doesn't  want  to  do  it;  but  she  feels  she  must, 
knowing  that  every  blow  he  strikes  from  now  on  is 
struck  on  her  account.  I  believe  she's  gone  to  warn 
the  Yankees  that  his  whole  animus  is  personal  revenge 
and  that  he  will  sacrifice  anything  or  anybody,  any  prin 
ciple  or  pledge  or  cause,  at  any  moment,  to  wreak  that 
private  vengeance,  in  whole  or  in  part." 

"  Dick  Smith,  yes !  But  don't  you  see,  besides,  what 
she  does  wrant?  Why,  she  wants  to  keep  Oliver  and 
Ferry  apart  until  somebody  else  for  whom  she  doesn't 
care  as  she  cares  for  Ned,  say  you,  or  I,  or — or — " 

"Gholson?" 

"Gholson,  no!  she  can't  trust  Gholson,  Gholson's 
conscience  is  too  vindictive;  that's  why  she's  keeping 
him  with  her  as  long  as  she  can.  No,  but  until  some 
of  us,  I  say,  can  give  Oliver  a  thousand  times  better  than 
he  ought  ever  to  get — except  for  her  sake — " 

"Yes,  you  mean  a  soldier's  clean  death;  and  what 
you  want  of  me  is  for  me  to  say  that  I,  for  one,  will 
lose  no  honest  chance  to  give  it  to  him,  isn't  it?  " 

"  What  I  want  of  you,  Smith,  is  to  tell  you  that  / 
shall  lose  no  such  chance." 

"  Well,  neither  shall  I." 

"  Bully  for  you,  Dick;  bully  boy  with  the  glass  eye! 


The  Cavalier 

You  see,  you're  one  of  only  half  a  dozen  or  so  that 
know  Oliver  when  they  see  him;  so  Ned  will  soon  be 
sending  you  after  him.  Ned's  got  a  conscience,  too, 
you  know,  as  squirmy  as  Gholson's.  Oh,  Lord!  yes, 
yon  don't  often  see  it,  tut  it's  as  big  and  hard  as  a 
conscript's  ague-cake."  The  Lieutenant  gathered  his 
rein ;  "  Smith,  I  want  Ned  and  her  to  get  one  another ; 
that's  me ! " 

I  was  tempted  to  say  it  was  me,  too,  but  I  forbore 
and  only  said  it  was  I. 

"  All  the  same,"  said  Harry,  "  I'm  sorry  for  the  little 
girl!" 

"Little  girl?" 

"  Oh,  come,  now,  you  know !  "  He  leaned  to  me  and 
whispered,  "  Miss  Cecile !  " 

"  Lieutenant,"  I  replied,  with  a  flush,  realizing  what 
I  owed  to  the  family  as  a  prospective  member  of  it, 
"  you're  mistaking  a  little  patriotic  ardor — " 

"  Pat  who — oh  ?  I  tell  you,  my  covey, — and  of  course, 
you  understand,  I  wouldn't  breathe  it  any  further — " 

"  I'd  rather  you  would  not." 

"  Phew-ew !  I  don't  know  why  in  the  devil  you'd 
rather  I  would  not,  but — Smith, — she's  so  dead-gone 
in  love  with  Ned  Ferry,  that  if  she  doesn't  get  him — I 
George!  it'll  e'en  a'most  kill  her!  " 

I  guffawed  in  derision.  "  And  she  didn't  even  have 
to  tell  you  so!  She  can't  even  hide  its  deadly  intensity 
from  the  casual  bystander!  haw!  haw!  haw!  And  it's 
all  the  outcome  of  a  three-days  acquaintance!  It  beats 
Doctor  Swiftgrow's  Mustache  Invigor' — aw,  haw! 
haw!" 

133 


Harry  Laughs 


"  Oh,  you  think  so  ?  Pity  you  couldn't  get  a  few  bar 
rels  of  it — aw,  haw !  haw !  "  said  Harry,  and  my  laughter 
left  off  where  his  began.  But,  some  way  hurting  his 
hand,  he,  too,  stopped  short.  I  drew  my  horse  back. 

"Is  that  all  you've  noticed?"  I  smilingly  inquired. 
"  Isn't  anybody  else  mortally  in  love  with  anybody  else? 
You  can't  make  me  believe  that's  all  you  know! " 

"  Well,  then,  I  sha'n't  try.  I  do  know  one  thing 
more;  heard  it  yesterday.  Like  to  hear  it?  " 

"  Like !  Why,  I'm  just  that  dead-gone  with  curiosity 
that  if  I  don't  hear  it  it'll  e'en  a'most  kill  me — aw,  haw! 
haw!  haw!" 

"  Well,  I'm  tired  saving  people's  lives,  but  we  won't 
count  this  one;  you  say  you  want  to  hear  it — I  can't 
give  you  all  of  it  but  it  begins: 

" '  Turn  away  thine  eyes,  maiden  passing  fair ! 

O  maiden  passing  fair,  turn  away  thine  eyes  ! ' 

Haw!  haw!  haw!  Good-bye,  Smith, — aw,  haw!  haw! 
haw! — and  it's  all  the  outcome  of  a  three-days  ac 
quaintance  ! — haw  !  haw !  haw ! — Oh,  say ! — Smith !  " 
— I  was  leaving  him — "  that's  right,  go  back  and  begin 
over ! — '  Return !  return ! ' — aw,  haw  !  haw !  haw !  " 


189 


The  Cavalier 
XLI 

UNIMPORTANT   AND   CONFIDENTIAL 

ON  the  second  night  after  that  morning  of  frantic 
mortification  I  was  riding  at  Ned  Ferry's  side,  in  Louisi 
ana.  The  camp  of  the  brigade  was  a  few  miles  behind 
us.  Somewhere  in  front  of  us,  fireless  and  close  hid, 
lay  our  company  of  scouts,  ahead  of  whose  march  he 
had  pushed  the  day  before  to  confer  with  the  General, 
and  we  were  now  on  our  way  to  rejoin  them.  Under 
our  horses'  feet  was  that  old  Plank-road  which  every 
"  buttermilk  ranger  "  must  remember — whether  dead  or 
not,  I  am  tempted  to  say, — who  rode  under  either  flag 
in  the  Felicianas  in  '63  and  '64. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  I  had  con 
ducted  the  Harpers  to  Squire  Wall's  I  had  received  a 
despatch  ordering  me  to  board  the  next  morning's  train 
at  Brookhaven  with  my  horse.  On  it  I  should  find  a 
number  of  cases  of  those  shoes  I  had  seen  at  Hazlehurst. 
At  Tangipahoa  I  was  to  transfer  them  to  one  or  two 
army-wagons  which  would  by  that  time  have  reached 
there,  and  bring  them  across  to  Clinton,  where  a  guard 
would  meet  and  join  me  to  conduct  the  wagons  to  camp. 
And  thus  I  had  done,  bearing  with  me  a  sad  vision  of 
dear  dark  Miss  Harper  fluttering  her  handkerchief 
above  her  three  nieces'  heads,  one  of  whom  refrained 
until  the  opportunity  had  all  but  gone,  to  wave  good 
bye  to  the  visibly  wretched  author  of  "  Maiden  passing 
fair,  turn  away  thine  eyes," 

190 


Unimportant  and  Confidential 

My  lucky  Cricket  had  gone  three  nights  and  two 
whole  days  with  no  harness  but  his  halter,  and  to-night, 
beside  the  Yankee's  horse,  that  still  bore  Ned  Ferry, 
he  was  as  good  as  new.  My  leader  and  I  talked  of 
Charlotte.  In  the  middle  of  this  day's  forenoon  Ghol- 
son  had  come  into  camp  reporting  at  the  General's  tent 
the  long  ride  she  had  made  on  Monday;  as  good  a  fifty 
miles  as  Ferry's  own.  We  called  it,  now,  Ferry  and  I,  a 
most  clever  achievement  for  a  woman.  "  Many  wom 
en,"  he  said,  "  know  how  to  ride,  but  she  knows  how  to 
march." 

"  I  think  you  must  have  taught  her,"  I  responded, 
and  he  enjoyed  his  inability  to  deny  it.  So  I  ventured 
farther  and  said  she  seemed  to  me  actually  to  have 
reached,  in  the  few  days  since  I  had  first  seen  her,  a 
finer  spiritual  stature. 

"  She  ?  "  he  asked ;  "  ah !  she  is  of  the  kind  that  must 
grow  or  die.  Yes,  you  may  be  right;  but  in  that  time 
she  has  kept  me  so  occupied  growing,  myseif,  that  I  did 
not  notice  she  was  doing  the  same.  But  also,  I  think, 
the  eyes  with  which  we  look  at  her  have  grown." 

"  She  has  outgrown  this  work,"  I  insisted. 

"Those  letters — to  the  newspapers?" 

"  No,  this  other;  this  work  which  she  has  to  do  by 
craft  and  wiles  and  disguises.  Lieutenant,  I  don't  be 
lieve  she  can  go  on  doing  that  now  with  her  past  skill, 
since  life  has  become  to  her  a  nobler  story  than  it 
promised  to  be." 

My  companion  lifted  higher  in  the  saddle  with  de 
light.  Then  soberly  he  said,  "  We  have  got  to  lose  her." 
I  turned  inquiringly  and  he  continued :  "  She  has  done 

191 


The  Cavalier 

me  the  honor  to  tell  me — Miss  Harper  and  me — that  if 
she  succeeds  in  what  she  is  now  trying  to  do  —  you 
know?—" 

"  I  think  I  do.  It's  to  prevent  Oliver  from  making 
himself  useful  to  the  enemy,  isn't  it?  " 

"  Well — like  that ;  and  she  says  if  she  comes  out 
all  right  she  will  leave  us;  yes,  for  the  hospital  ser 
vice." 

"  Hosp' — Oh — oh !  gangrene,  typhoid,  lock-jaw,  itch, 
small-pox!  Isn't  she  deep  enough  in  the  hospital  ser 
vice  already,  with  her  quinine  dolls?  " 

"  Ah!  but  she  cannot  continue  to  play  dolls  that  way; 
she  must  find  something  else.  •  I  see  you  have  my 
temptation;  yes,  the  desire  to  see  her  always  doing 
something  splendid.  That  is  not  '  real  life/  as  you  call 
it.  And  besides,  was  not  that  you  said  one  time  to  me 
'  No  splendor  shines  at  last  so  far  as  a  hidden  splen 
dor'?" 

"  No,  sir!  I  suppose  it's  true,  but  I  never  want  to  see 
her  splendor  shining  through  pock-marks."  The  reply 
won  from  him  a  gesture  of  approval,  and  this  gave  me 
a  reckless  tongue.  "  Why,  if  I  were  you,  Lieutenant, 
she  simply  shouldn't  go!  Good  Heaven!  isn't  she  far 
enough  away  at  the  nearest?  How  can  you  tamely — 
no,  I  don't  mean  tamely,  but — how  can  you  endure  to 
let  this  matter  drift — how  can  you  endure  it?  " 

At  the  beginning  of  my  question  he  straightened  ex 
actly  as  I  had  seen  him  do  in  the  middle  of  the  lane 
when  our  recoiled  column  was  staggering;  but  as  my 
extravagance  flamed  up  he  quieted  rebukingly,  and  with 
a  quieter  smile  than  ever  asked  "  Is  that  a  soldier's  ques- 

192 


Unimportant  and  Confidential 

tion?  Smith,  is  there  not  something  wrong  with  you 
to-night?" 

"  There  always  is,"  I  replied. 

"  No,  but  to-night  I  think  you  are  taking  that '  lower 
fork '  you  talk  sometimes  about.  Of  course,  if  you 
don't  want  to  tell—" 

"May  I  tell  you?" 

"  Ah,  certainly!     Is  it  that  little  Harper  girl? " 

I  nodded,  all  choked  up.  When  I  could  speak  I  had 
to  drop  the  words  by  ones  and  twos,  and  did  not  so 
much  say  them  as  let  them  bleed  from  my  lips;  and 
never  while  I  live  shall  I  forget  the  sweet,  grave,  perfect 
sympathy  with  which  my  friend  listened  and  led  me 
on,  and  listened  and  led  me  on.  I  said  I  had  never  be 
lieved  in  love  at  first  sight  until  now  when  it  had  come 
upon  me  to  darken  and  embitter  my  life  henceforth. 

He  replied  that  certainly  love  sometimes  germinated 
at  first  sight,  and  I  interrupted  greedily  that  that  was 
all  I  claimed — except  that  love  could  also,  at  times,  grow 
to  maturity  with  amazing  speed,  a  speed  I  never  could 
have  credited  previous  to  these  last  four  days.  And  he 
admitted  as  much,  but  thought  time  only  could  prove 
such  love;  whereto  I  rejoined  that  that  was  what  she 
had  answered. 

He  glanced  at  me  suddenly,  then  smoothed  his 
horse's  mane,  and  said,  gently,  "  That  means  you  have 
declared  yourself  to  her?" 

I  confessed  I  had,  and  told  him  how,  on  our  journey 
to  Squire  Wall's,  being  stung  to  desperation  by  the 
infantile  way  in  which  she  had  drooled  out  to  others 
what  my  love  had  sacredly  confided  to  her  alone,  I  had 

193 


The  Cavalier 

abruptly  confronted  her  with  the  fact,  and  in  the  ensuing 
debate,  carried  away  by  the  torrent  of  my  emotions,  had 
offered  her  my  love,  for  life  and  all. 

"  And  she — ah,  yes.  I  see ;  and  I  see,  too,  that  in  all 
she  ever  said  or  did  or  seemed,  before,  she  never  made 
herself  such  a  treasure  to  be  longed  for  and  fought  and 
lived  for  as  in  the  way  in  which  she — "  He  paused. 

"  Refused  me !  Oh,  it's  so ;  it's  so !  Ah !  if  you  could 
have  witnessed  her  dignity,  her  wisdom,  her  grace,  her 
compassionate  immovableness,  you'd  never  think  of  her 
as  the  little  Harper  girl  again.  She  said  that  if  the  un 
premeditated,  headlong  way  in  which  I  had  told  my  pas 
sion  were  my  only  mistake,  and  if  it  were  only  for  my 
sake,  she  would  not,  if  she  could,  answer  favorably,  and 
that  I,  myself,  at  last,  would  not  have  a  girl  who  would 
have  a  man  who  would  offer  his  love  in  that  way,  and 
that  she  would  not  have  a  man  who  would  have  a  girl 
who  would  have  a  man  who  should  offer  his  love  in  that 
way." 

I  call  it  one  of  the  sweetest  kindnesses  ever  done  me, 
that  Ned  Ferry  heard  me  to  the  end  of  that  speech  and 
did  not  smile.  Instead  he  asked  "  Did  she  say  that  as 
if  a* — as  if — amused?  " 

"  No,  Lieutenant,  she  nearly  cried.  Oh,  I  wish  we 
were  on  some  dangerous  errand  to-night,  instead  of  just 
camp  and  bed!  " 

"  Well,  that's  all  right,  Richard;  we  are." 


194 


"By  Candle-Light?' 

XLII 

"CAN   I  GET  THERE  BY   CANDLE-LIGHT?" 

AFTER  a  lew  minutes  we  quitted  the  public  way  by 
an  obscure  path  in  the  woods  on  our  right.  When  we 
had  followed  this  for  two  or  three  miles  we  turned  to  the 
left  again  and  pressed  as  softly  as  we  could  into  a  low 
tangled  ground  where  the  air  seemed  stagnant  and  mos 
quitoes  stung  savagely.  We  wiped  away  the  perspira 
tion  in  streams.  I  pushed  forward  to  Ferry's  side  and 
whispered  my  belief  that  at  last  we  were  to  see  rain. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  and  with  thunder  and  lightning; 
just  what  we  want  to-night." 

I  asked  why.  "  Oh,  they  hate  our  thunder-storms, 
those  Yankee  patrols." 

Presently  we  were  in  a  very  dark  road,  and  at  a  point 
where  it  dropped  suddenly  between  steep  sides  we  halted 
in  black  shadow.  A  gleam  of  pale  sand,  a  whisper  of 
deep  flowing  waters,  and  a  farther  glimmer  of  more 
sands  beyond  them  challenged  our  advance.  We  had 
come  to  a  "  grapevine  ferry."  The  scow  was  on  the 
other  side,  the  water  too  shoal  for  the  horses  to  swim, 
and  the  bottom,  most  likely,  quicksand.  Out  of  the 
blackness  of  the  opposite  shore  came  a  soft,  high- 
pitched,  quavering,  long-drawn,  smothered  moan  of 
woe,  the  call  of  that  snivelling  little  sinner  the  screech- 
owl.  Ferry  murmured  to  me  to  answer  it  and  I  sent 
the  same  faint  horror-stricken  tremolo  back.  Again  it 
came  to  us,  from  not  farther  than  one  might  toss  his 

195 


The  Cavalier 

cap,  and  I  followed  Ferry  down  to  the  water's  edge. 
The  grapevine  guy  swayed  at  our  side,  we  heard  the 
scow  slide  from  the  sands,  and  in  a  few  moments, 
moved  by  two  videttes,  it  touched  our  shore.  Soon  we 
were  across,  the  two  videttes  riding  with  us,  and  be 
yond  a  sharp  rise,  in  an  old  opening  made  by  the  swoop 
of  a  hurricane,  we  entered  the  silent  unlighted  bivouac 
of  Ferry's  scouts.  Ferry  got  down  and  sat  on  the 
earth  talking  with  Quinn,  while  the  sergeants  quietly 
roused  the  sleepers  to  horse. 

Now  we  marched,  and  when  we  had  gone  a  mile  or 
so  Ned  Ferry  turned  aside,  taking  with  him  only  Ser 
geant  Jim,  Kendall,  another  private,  and  me.  We  went 
at  an  alert  walk  single-file  for  the  better  part  of  an  hour 
and  stopped  at  length  in  a  narrow  untilled  "  deaden 
ing."  Beyond  it  at  our  left  a  faint  redness  shone  just 
above  the  tree-tops.  At  our  right,  in  the  northwest,  a 
similar  glow  was  ruddier,  the  heavens  being  darker 
there  except  when  once  or  twice  they  paled  with  silent 
lightnings.  Sergeant  Jim  went  forward  alone  and  on 
foot,  and  presently  was  back  again,  whispering  to  Ferry 
and  remounting. 

Ferry  led  Kendall  and  me  into  the  woods,  the  other 
two  remaining.  We  found  rising  ground,  and  had  rid 
den  but  a  few  minutes  when  from  its  crest  we  looked 
upon  a  startling  sight.  In  front  of  us  was  a  stretch  of 
specially  well  farmed  land.  Our  woods  swept  round  it 
on  both  sides,  crossed  a  highway,  and  gradually  closed 
in  again  so  as  to  terminate  the  opening  about  half  a 
mile  away.  Always  the  same  crops,  bottom  cause  of 
the  war:  from  us  to  the  road  an  admirable  planting  of 

196 


"By  Candle-Light?" 

cotton,  and  from  there  to  the  farther  woods  as  goodly 
a  show  of  thick  corn.  The  whole  acreage  swept  down 
ward  to  that  terminus,  at  the  same  time  sinking  inward 
from  the  two  sides.  On  the  highway  shone  the  lighted 
rear  window  of  a  roadside  "  store,"  and  down  the  two 
sides  of  the  whole  tract  stretched  the  hundred  tent-fires 
of  two  brigade  camps  of  the  enemy's  cavalry.  Their 
new,  white  canvases  were  pitched  in  long,  even  alleys 
following  the  borders  of  the  wood,  from  which  the 
brush  had  been  cut  away  far  enough  for  half  of  them  to 
stand  under  the  trees.  The  men  had  quieted  down  to 
sleep,  but  at  one  tent  very  near  us  a  group  of  regimental 
officers  sat  in  the  light  of  a  torch-basket,  and  by  them 
were  planted  their  colors.  A  quartet  of  capital  voices 
were  singing,  and  one  who  joined  the  chorus,,  standing 
by  the  flag,  absently  yet  caressingly  spread  it  at  such 
breadth  that  we  easily  read  on  it  the  name  of  the  com 
mand.  Let  me  leave  that  out. 

As  they  sang,  and  as  we  sat  in  our  saddles  behind 
the  low  fence  that  ran  quite  round  the  opening,  Ferry 
turned  from  looking  across  into  the  lighted  window  on 
the  road  and  handed  me  his  field-glass.  "  How  many 
candles  do  you  see  in  there?  " 

I  saw  two.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  dismounting  and  mo 
tioning  me  to  do  the  same.  Kendall  took  our  bridles. 
Leaving  him  with  the  animals  we  went  over  the  fence, 
through  the  cotton,  across  the  road  at  a  point  terribly 
near  the  lighted  and  guarded  shop,  and  on  down  the 
field  of  corn,  to  and  over  its  farthest  fence;  stooping, 
gliding,  halting,  crouching,  in  the  cotton-rows  and  corn- 
rows;  taking  every  posture  two  upright  gentlemen 

197 


The  Cavalier 

would  rather  not  take;  while  nevertheless  I  swelled  with 
pride,  to  be  alone  at  the  side — or  even  at  the  heels — of 
one  who,  for  all  this  apparent  skulking  and  grovelling, 
and  in  despite  of  all  the  hidden  drawings  of  his  passion 
for  a  fair  woman  at  this  hour  somewhere  in  peril,  kept 
his  straight  course  in  lion-hearted  pursuit  of  his  duty, 
(as  he  saw  it)  to  a  whole  world  of  loves  and  lovers, 
martyrs  and  fighters,  hosts  of  whom  had  as  good  a 
right  to  their  heart's  desire  as  I  to  mine  or  he  to  his ; 
and  I  remembered  Charlotte  Oliver  saying,  on  her 
knees,  "  I  believe  no  beauty  and  no  joy  can  be  perfect 
apart  from  a  love  that  loves  the  whole  world's  joy  bet 
ter  than  any  separate  joy  of  any  separate  soul." 

XLIII 

"  YES,   AND   BACK  AGAIN  " 

ONE  matter  of  surprise  to  me  was  that  this  whole 
property  had  escaped  molestation.  I  wondered  who 
could  be  so  favored  by  the  enemy  and  yet  be  so  devoted 
to  our  cause  as  to  signal  us  from  his  window  with 
their  sentinels  at  his  doors ;  and  as  we  passed  beyond 
the  cornfield's  farther  fence  I  ventured  to  ask  Ferry. 

"  Aaron  Goldschmidt,"  he  whispered,  as  we  de 
scended  into  a  dry,  tangled  swamp.  In  the  depths  of 
this  wild,  beside  a  roofed  pen  of  logs  stored  with  half 
a  dozen  bales  of  cotton,  we  were  presently  in  the  com 
pany  of  a  very  small  man  who  tossed  a  hand  in  token 
of  great  amusement. 

"  Hello,  Ned !  "  he  whispered  in  antic  irony ;  "  what 
108 


"Yes,  and  Back  Again" 

an  accident  is  dat,  meeding  so !  Whoever  is  expecting 
someding  like  dis  !  " 

"  Well,  I  hope  nobody,  Isidore ;  I  hardly  expected 
it  myself,  your  father  set  those  candles  so  close  the  one 
behind  the  other." 

Isidore  doubled  with  mirth  and  as  suddenly  straight 
ened.  "  Your  horse  is  here  since  yesterday.  Site  left 
him — by  my  father.  She  didn't  t'ink  t'e  Yankees  is 
going  to  push  away  out  here  to-night.  But  he  is  a 
pusher,  t'at  Grierson!  You  want  him  to-night,  t'at 
horse?  He  is  here  by  me,  but  I  t'ink  you  best  not 
take  him,  hmm?  To  cross  t'e  creek  and  go  round  t'e 
ot'er  way  take  you  more  as  all  night;  and  to  go  back 
t'is  same  way  you  come,  even  if  I  wrap  him  up  in  piece 
paper  you  haven't  got  a  lawch  insite  pocket  you  can 
carry  him  ?  "  He  laughed  silently  and  the  next  instant 
was  more  in  earnest  than  ever. 

"  She  is  in  a  tight  place !  She  hires  my  mother's 
pony  to  ride  in  to  headquarters/'  He  called  them  hate- 
kvartuss,  but  we  need  not.  "  I  t'ink  she  is  not  a  pris 
oner — unless — she  wants  to  come  back."  He  doubled 
again.  "  Anyhow,  I  wish  you  can  see  her  to-night ;  she 
got  another  doll-baby  for  t'e  gildren,  and  she  give  you 
waluable  informations  by  de  hatfull.  .  .  .  Find  her? 
I  tell  you  how  you  find  her  in  finfty-nine  minutes — 
vedder  permitting,  t'at  is." 

The  last  phrase  was  fitted  to  a  listening  pose,  and  the 
first  mutter  of  the  pending  thunder-storm  came  out  of 
the  northwest.  Then  Isidore  hastened  through  the 
practical  details  of  his  proposition.  Ferry  drew  a 
breath  of  enthusiasm. 

199 


The  Cavalier 

"  Can  I  have  my  horse,  bridled  and  saddled,  in  three 
minutes  ?  " 

"  I  pring  urn  in  two ! "  said  Isidore,  and  vanished. 
Ferry  turned  with  an  overmastering  joy  in  every  note 
of  his  whispered  utterance.  "  After  all !  "  he  said,  and 
I  could  have  thrown  my  arms  around  him  in  pure  de 
light  to  hear  duty  and  heart's  desire  striking  twelve 
together. 

"  Smith,"  he  asked,  "  can  you  start  back  without  me  ? 
Then  go  at  once;  I  shall  overtake  you  on  my  horse." 

I  stole  through  the  cornfield  safely;  the  frequent 
lightnings  were  still  so  well  below  the  zenith  as  to  hide 
me  in  a  broad  confusion  of  monstrous  shadows.  But 
when  I  came  to  cross  the  road  no  crouching  or  gliding 
would  do.  I  must  go  erect  and  only  at  the  speed  of 
some  ordinary  official  errand.  So  I  did,  at  a  point  be 
tween  two  opposite  fence-gaps,  closely  after  an  electric 
gleam,  and  I  was  rejoicing  in  the  thick  darkness  that 
followed,  when  all  at  once  the  whole  landscape  shone 
like  day  and  I  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  in  point- 
blank  view  of  a  small  squad,  a  "  visiting  patrol  ".  They 
were  trotting  toward  me  in  the  highway,  hardly  a  hun 
dred  yards  off.  As  the  darkness  came  again  and  the 
thunder  crashed  like  falling  timbers,  I  started  into  the 
cotton-field  at  an  easy  double-quick.  The  hoofs  of  one 
horse  quickened  to  a  gallop.  A  strong  wind  swept 
over,  big  rain-drops  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder  and 
pattered  on  the  cotton-plants,  the  sound  of  the  horse's 
galloping  ceased  as  he  turned  after  me  in  the  soft  field, 
and  presently  came  the  quiet  call  "  Halt,  there,  you  on 
foot." 

200 


"Yes,  and  Back  Again" 

I  went  faster.    I  knew  by  my  pursuer's  coming  alone 
that  he  did  not  take  me  for  a  Confederate,  and  that  the 
worst  I  should  get,  to  begin  with,  would  be  the  flat 
of  his  sabre.    Shrewdly  loading  my  tongue  with  thatl 
hard  northern  r  which  I  hated  more  than  all  unright-  \ 
eousness,  I  called  back  "  Oh,  I'm  under  orders !  go  halt  j 
some  fool  who's  got  time  to  halt !  " 

I  obliqued  as  if  bound  for  the  headquarters  fire  where 
we  had  seen  the  singers,  the  lightning  branched  over 
the  black  sky  like  tree-roots,  the  thunder  crashed  and 
pounded  again,  the  wind  stopped  in  mid-career,  and 
the  rain  came  straight  down  in  sheets.  "  Halt ! " 
yelled  the  horseman.  He  lifted  his  blade,  but  I  darted 
aside  and  doubled,  and  as  he  whirled  around  after  me, 
another  rider,  meeting  him  and  reining  in  at  such  close 
quarters  that  the  mud  flew  over  all  three  of  us,  lifted 
his  hand  and  said — 

"  He  is  right,  sergeant,  he  is  carrying  out  my  or 
ders."  Ferry's  black  silk  handkerchief  about  his  neck 
covered  his  Confederate  bars  of  rank,  and  the  Federal 
may  or  may  not  have  noted  the  absence  of  shoulder- 
straps  ;  our  arms  remained  undrawn ;  and  so  the  ser 
geant,  catching  a  breath  or  two  of  disconcertion, 
caught  nothing  else.  While  Ferry  spoke  on  for  an 
other  instant  I  showed  my  heels ;  then  he  left  the  drip 
ping  Yankee  mouthing  an  angry  question  and  loped 
after  me,  and  over  the  low  fence  went  the  two  of  us 
almost  together. 

Kendall  was  not  there,  the  Federal  camp-makers 
had  tardily  repaired  their  blunder  by  posting  guards; 
but  these  were  not  looking  for  their  enemies  from  the 

201 


The  Cavalier 

side  of  their  own  camp,  and  as  we  cleared  the  fence  in 
the  full  blaze  of  a  lightning  flash,  only  two  or  three 
wild  shots  sang  after  us.  In  the  black  downpour  Ferry 
reached  me  an  invisible  hand.  I  leapt  astride  his 
horse's  croup,  and  trusting  the  good  beast  to  pick  his 
way  among  the  trees  himself,  \ve  sped  away.  Soon  we 
came  upon  our  three  men  waiting  with  the  horses,  and 
no  great  while  afterward  the  five  of  us  rejoined  our 
command.  The  storm  lulled  to  mild  glimmerings  and 
a  gentle  shower,  and  the  whole  company,  in  one  long 
single  file,  began  to  sweep  hurriedly,  stealthily,  and  on 
a  wide  circuit  of  obscurest  byways,  deeper  than  ever 
into  the  enemy's  lines. 


XLIV 

CHARLOTTE   IN   THE  TENTS   OF  THE   FOE 

FROM  certain  rank  signs  of  bad  management  in  the 
Federal  camp  one  could  easily  guess  that  our  circuit 
was  designed  to  bring  us  around  to  its  rear.  That  a 
colonel's  tent — the  one  where  the  singers  were — was 
not  where  the  colonel's  tent  belonged  was  a  trifle,  but 
the  slovenliness  with  which  the  forest  borders  of  the 
camp  were  guarded  was  a  graver  matter.  Evidently 
those  troops  were  at  least  momentarily  in  unworthy 
hands,  and  I  was  so  remarking  to  Kendall  when  a  mur 
mured  command  came  back  from  Ferry,  to  tell  Dick 
Smith  to  stop  that  whispering.  I  was  sorry,  for  1 
wanted  to  add  that  I  knew  we  were  not  going  to  attack 
the  camp  itself. 

202 


Charlotte  in  the  Tents  of  the  Foe 

That  was  on  Wednesday  night.  Charlotte  and  Ghol- 
son  had  made  their  ride  of  fifty  miles  on  Monday.  The 
friends  with  whom  she  stopped  at  nightfall  contrived 
to  cram  him  into  their  crowded  soldiers'  room,  and 
he  had  given  the  whole  company  of  his  room-mates,  as 
they  sat  up  in  their  beds,  a  full  account  of  the  fight  at 
Sessions's,  Charlotte's  care  of  the  sick  and  dying,  and 
the  singing,  by  her  and  the  blue-coats,  of  their  battle- 
song.  Next  morning  Charlotte,  without  Gholson — 
who  turned  off  to  camp — rode  on  to  Goldschmidt's 
store,  just  beyond  which  there  was  then  still  a  Con 
federate  picket.  Here  she  hired  Mrs.  Goldschmidt's 
pony,  rode  to  the  picket,  and  presented  the  Coralie 
Rothvelt  pass. 

"  Miss  Coralie  Rothvelt ;  yes,  all  right/'  said  the  of 
ficer,  "  the  men  that  rode  with  you  this  morning  told 
me  all  about  you."  He  went  with  her  as  far  as  his 
videttes,  and  thence  she  rode  alone  to  a  picket  of  the 
Federal  army  and  by  her  request  was  conducted  under 
guard  to  the  headquarters  of  a  corps  commander.  To 
him  and  his  chief-of-staff  she  told  the  fate  of  Jewett's 
scouts  and  delivered  the  messages  of  their  dying  leader ; 
and  then  she  tendered  the  hero's  sword. 

The  staff-officer  cut  away  its  cornhusk  wrapping  and 
read  aloud  the  owner's  name  on  the  hilt.  The  General 
laid  the  mighty  weapon  across  his  palm  and  sternly 
shut  his  lips.  "  How  did  you  get  through  the  enemy's 
pickets  with  this?  " 

"  I  had  a  Confederate  general's  pass." 

"  Ah !  Is  the  Confederate  general  as  nameless  as 
yourself?" 

203 


The  Cavalier 

"  I  am  not  nameless ;  I  only  ask  leave  to  withhold 
my  name  until  I  have  told  one  or  two  other  things." 

"  But  you  don't  mind  confessing  you're  an  out-and- 
out  rebel  sympathizer  ?  " 

Under  the  broad-brimmed  hat  her  smile  grew  to  a 
sparkle.  "  No,  I  enjoy  it." 

The  chief-of-staff  smiled,  but  the  General  darkened 
and  pressed  his  questions.  At  length  he  summed  up. 
"  So,  then,  you  wish  me  to  believe  that  you  did  all  you 
did,  and  now  have  come  into  our  lines  at  a  most  extra 
ordinary  and  exhausting  speed  and  running  the  ugliest 
kinds  of  risks,  in  mere  human  sympathy  for  a  dying 
stranger,  he  being  a  Union  officer  and  you  a  secession 
ist  of  " — a  courtly  bow — "  the  very  elect ;  that's  your 
meaning,  is  it  not  ?  " 

"  No,  General ;  in  the  first  place,  I  am  not  one  of 
any  elect." 

A  flattering  glimmer  of  amusement  came  into  the 
two  men's  faces,  but  some  change  in  Charlotte's  man 
ner  arrested  it  and  brought  an  enhanced  deference. 

"  In  the  second  place,  I  am  not  here  merely  on  this 
errand." 

"  Oh ! " 

"  No,  General.  And  in  the  last  place,  my  motive  in 
this  errand  is  no  mere  sympathy  for  any  one  person ; 
I  am  here  from  a  sense  of  public  duty — "  The  speaker 
seemed  suddenly  overtaken  by  emotions,  dropped  her 
words  with  pained  evenness,  and  fingered  the  lace 
handkerchief  in  her  lap. 

"  Pardon,"  interrupted  the  General,  "  the  sunlight 
annoys  you.  Major,  will  you  drop  that  curtain  ?  " 

204 


Charlotte  in  the  Tents  of  the  Foe 

"  Thank  you.  One  thing  I  am  here  for,  General,  is 
to  tell  you  something,  and  I  have  to  begin  by  ask 
ing  that  neither  of  you  will  ever  say  how  you  learned 
it" 

The  two  men  bowed. 

"  Thank  you.  Please  understand,  also,  I  have  never 
uttered  this  but  to  one  friend,  a  lady.  There  was  no 
need;  I  have  not  wanted  aid  or  counsel,  even  from 
friends.  But  I  feel  duty  bound  to  tell  it  to  you,  now, 
because,  for  one  thing,  the  brave  soldier  who  wore  that 
sword — "  Her  eyes  rose  to  the  weapon  and  fell  again ; 
she  bit  her  lip. 

"  Yes— well— what  of  him?" 

"  He  was  lured  to  disaster  and  death  by  a  man  whose 
supreme  purpose  was,  and  is  to-day,  revenge  upon  me. 
That  man  drew  him  to  his  ruin  purely  in  search  of  my 
life."  Charlotte  sat  with  her  strange  in-looking,  out- 
looking  gaze  holding  the  gaze  of  her  questioner  until 
for  relief  he  spoke. 

"  Why,  young  lady,  it's  hard  to  doubt  anything  you 
say,  but  really  that  sounds  rather  fanciful.  Why  should 
you  think  it  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  think  it,  I  know  it.  He  sends  me  his  own 
assurance  of  it  by  his  own  father,  so  that  his  revenge 
may  be  fuller  by  my  knowing  daily  and  hourly  that  he 
is  on  my  trail." 

"  And  you  appeal  to  me  for  protection  ?  " 

She  smiled.  "  No.  I  am  not  seeking  to  divert  his 
fury  from  myself,  but  to  confine  it  to  myself.  Fancy 
yourself  a  human-hearted  woman,  General,  and  murder 
being  done  day  by  day  because  you  are  alive." 

205 


The  Cavalier 

"Oh,  this  is  incredible!  What  is  its  occasion,  its 
origin  ?  How  are  you  in  any  way  responsible  ?  " 

"  Why,  largely  I  am  not.  Yet  in  degree  I  am,  Gen 
eral,  because  of  shortcomings  of  mine — faults — errors 
— that — oh — that  have  their  bearing  in  the  case,  don't 
you  see  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't ;  pray  don't  ask  me  to  draw  inferences  ; 
I  might  infer  too  much." 

"  Yes,  you  might,  easily/'  said  Charlotte ;  "  for  I  only 
mean  shortcomings  of  the  kind  we  readily  excuse  in 
others  though  we  never  can  or  should  pardon  them  in 
ourselves." 

The  General  turned  an  arch  smile  of  perplexity  upon 
his  chief-of-staff.  "  I  don't  think  we're  quite  up  ta 
that  line  of  perpetual  snow,  Walter,  are  we  ?  " 

The  chief-of-staff  "  guessed  they  were  not." 

Charlotte  resumed.  "  I  have  come  to  you  in  the 
common  interest,  to  warn  you  against  that  man.  I 
believe  he  is  on  his  way  here  to  offer  his  services  as 
a  guide.  He  is  fearless,  untiring,  and  knows  all  this 
region  by  heart." 

"  Union  man,  I  take  it,  is  he  not?  " 

"  No,  he's  Federal,  Confederate  or  guerilla  as  it  may 
suit  his  bloody  ends." 

"  And  you  want  me  not  to  make  use  of  him." 

"  Oh,  more  than  that ;  I  want  him  stopped ! — stopped 
from  killing  and  burning  on  his  and  my  private  ac 
count.  But  I  want  much  more  than  that,  too.  I  know 
how  you  commonly  stop  such  men." 

"  We  hang  them  to  the  first  tree." 

"  Yes,  our  side  does  the  same.  If  I  wanted  such  a 
206 


Charlotte  in  the  Tents  of  the  Foe 

fate  to  overtake  him  I  should  only  have  to  let  him  alone. 
At  risks  too  hideous  to  name  I  have  saved  him  from  it 
twice.  I  am  here  to-day  chiefly  to  circumvent  his  pur 
poses  ;  but  if  I  may  do  so  in  the  way  I  wish  to  propose 
to  you,  I  shall  also  save  him  once  more.  I  am  willing 
to  save  him — in  that  way — although  by  so  doing  I  shall 
lose — fearfully."  She  dropped  her  glance  and  turned 
aside. 

"  How  do  you  propose  to  circumvent  and  yet  save 
him?" 

"  By  getting  you  to  send  him  so  far  to  your  own 
army's  rear  that  he  cannot  get  back;  to  compel  him 
to  leave  the  country ;  to  go  into  your  country,  where 
law  and  order  reign  as  they  cannot  here  between  the 
lines." 

"  And  you  consider  that  a  reasonable  request?  " 

"  Oh,  sir,  I  must  make  it !     I  can  ask  no  less !  " 

"  But  you  say  if  this  scheme  works  you  lose  by  it. 
What  will  you  lose  ?  " 

"  I  may  lose  track  of  him !  If  I  lose  track  of  him  I 
may  have  to  go  through  a  long  life  not  knowing 
whether  he  is  dead  or  alive." 

"  And  suppose — why, — young  lady,  I  thought  you 
were  unmarried.  I — oh,  what  do  you  mean ;  is  he — ?  " 

Charlotte's  head  drooped  and  her  hands  trembled. 
"  Yes,  by  law  and  church  decree  he  is  my  husband." 

"  Good  Heaven ! "  murmured  the  General,  drew  a 
breath,  and  folded  his  arms.  "  But,  madam !  if  a  man 
abandons  his  wife — ' 

"  I  abandoned  him." 

"Good  for  you!" 

207 


The  Cavalier 

"  It  was  vital  for  me.  But  I  did  it  on  evidence  which 
our  laws  ignore,  the  testimony  of  slaves.  Oh,  General, 
don't  try  to  untangle  me ;  only  stop  him !  " 

"  Ah !  madam,  Til  do  the  little  I  can.  How  am  I  to 
know  him  ?  " 

"  By  a  pistol-wound  in  his  right  hand,  got  last  week. 
He  would  have  got  it  in  his  brain  but  for  my  pleading. 
His  name  is  Oliver." 

"  Oliver ;  hmm !  any  relation  to  Charlotte  Oliver, 
your  so  called  newspaper  correspondent?  I'd  like  to 
stop  her. — How  ? — I  don't  quite  hear  you." 

"  I  am  Charlotte  Oliver." 

The  two  officers  glanced  sharply  at  each  other. 
When  the  General  turned  again  he  flushed  resentfully. 
"  Have  you  never  resumed  your  maiden  name  ? " 

"  Never." 

"  Then,  madam,  tell  me  this !  With  a  whole  world 
of  other  people's  names  to  choose  from,  why  have  you 
borrowed  Charlotte  Oliver's?  Have  you  come  here 
determined  to  be  sent  to  prison,  Miss  Coralie  Roth- 
velt?" 


XLV 

STAY  TILL  TO-MORROW 

CHARLOTTE  did  not  move  an  eyelash.  Gradually  a 
happy  confidence  lighted  her  face.  "  Freedom  or 
prison  is  to  me  a  secondary  question.  I  came  here 
determined  to  use  only  the  truth.  No  wild  creature 
loves  to  be  free  more  than  I  do.  I  want  to  go  back 

208 


Stay  Till  To-Morrow 

into  our  lines,  and  to  go  at  once ;  but — I  am  Charlotte 
Oliver." 

"  Young  lady,  listen  to  me.  I  know  your  story  is 
nearly  all  true.  I  know  some  good  things  about  you 
which  you  have  modestly  left  out;  one  of  the  rebels 
who  stopped  where  you  did  last  night  and  rode  with 
you  this  morning  was  brought  to  me  a  prisoner  half 
an  hour  ago.  But  he  said  your  name  was  Rothvelt. 
How's  that?" 

"  Unfortunately,  General,  my  name  is  Charlotte 
Oliver.  Two  or  three  times  I  have  had  use  for  so  much 
concealment  as  there  was  in  the  childish  prank  of  turn 
ing  my  name  wrong  side  out."  The  speaker  made  a 
sign  to  the  chief-of-staff :  "  Write  the  two  names  side 
by  side  and  see  if  they  are  not  one." 

He  was  already  doing  so,  and  nodded  laughingly  to 
his  superior.  Charlotte  spoke  on.  "  I  tell  you  the 
truth  only,  gentlemen,  though  I  tell  you  no  more  of 
it  than  I  must.  I  have  run  many  a  risk  to  get  the 
truth,  and  to  get  it  early.  If  it  is  your  suspicion 
that  by  so  doing,  or  in  any  other  way,  I  have  for 
feited  a  lady's  liberty,  let  me  hear  and  answer.  If 
not—" 

"  Oh,  I'll  have  to  send  you  to  the  provost-martial  at 
Baton  Rouge  and  let  you  settle  that  with  him." 

"  Ah,  no,  General !  By  the  name  of  the  lady  you 
love  best,  I  beg  you  to  see  my  need  and  let  me  go. 
I  promise  you  never  henceforth  to  offend  your  cause 
except  in  that  mere  woman's  sympathy  with  what  you 
call  rebellion,  for  which  women  are  not  so  much  as 
banished  by  you — or  if  they  are,  then  banish  me! 

209 


The  Cavalier 

Treat  me  no  better,  and  no  worse,  than  a  '  registered 
enemy'!" 

The  General  shook  his  head.  "  Your  registration 
has  been  in  the  open  field  of  military  action;  some 
times,  I  fear,  between  the  lines.  At  least  it  has  been 
with  your  pen." 

"  General,  I  have  laid  down  the  pen." 

"  Indeed !  to  take  up  what?  " 

"  The  spoon !  "  said  Charlotte,  with  that  smile  which 
no  man  ever  wholly  resisted.  "  I  leave  the  sword  and 
its  questions  to  my  brother  man,  in  the  blue  and  in  the 
gray — God  save  it! — and  have  pledged  myself  to  the 
gray,  to  work  from  now  on  only  under  the  yellow  flag 
of  mercy  and  healing." 

"  Yes,  of  course ;  mercy — and  comfort — and  every 
sort  of  unarmed  aid — to  rebels." 

"To  the  men  you  call  so,  yes.  Yet  I  pledge  you, 
General,  to  deal  as  tenderly  with  every  man  in  blue 
who  comes  within  range  of  my  care  as  I  did  with 
Captain  Jewett." 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  did  even  better  than  you've  told 
me,  but  Fd  be  a  fool  to  send  you  back  on  the  instant, 
so.  Stay  till  to-morrow  or  next  day."  The  captor 
smiled.  "  Major,  I  think  we  owe  the  lady  that  much 
hospitality." 

The  Major  thought  so,  and  that  she  must  need  a 
day's  rest,  more  than  she  realized.  She  could  be  made 
in  every  way  comfortable — under  guard  at  "  Mr.  Gil- 
mer's."  The  Gilmers  were  Unionists,  whose  fine  char 
acter  had  been  their  only  protection  through  two  years 
of  ostracism,  yet  he  believed  they  would  treat  her  well. 

210 


Stay  Till  To-Morrow 

"  Oh !  not  there,  please,"  said  Charlotte ;  "  I  hear  they 
are  to  give  some  of  your  officers  a  dance  to-morrow 
evening !  "  and  there  followed  a  parley  that  called  forth 
all  her  playfullest  tact.  "  Oh,  no/'  she  said,  at  one  crit 
ical  point,  "  I'm  not  so  narrow  or  sour  but  I  could  dance 
with  a  blue  uniform ;  but  suppose — why,  suppose  one's 
friends  in  gray  should  catch  one  dancing  with  one's 
enemies  in  blue.  Such  things  have  happened,  you 
know." 

"  It  sha'n't  happen  to-morrow  night,"  laughed  the 
General. 

She  offered  to  nurse  the  Federal  sick,  instead,  in  the 
command's  field-hospital,  but  no,  the  General  rose  to 
end  the  interview.  "  My  dear  young  lady,  the  saintliest 
thing  we  can  let  you  do  is  to  dance  at  that  merry 
making." 

She  rose.  "  As  a  prisoner  under  guard,  General,  I 
can  nurse  the  sick,  but  I  will  not  dance." 

The  General  smiled.    "  I'll  take  your  parole." 

"  Oh !  exact  a  parole  from  a  woman  ?  " 

"  Good  gracious,  why  shouldn't  I !  As  for  you, — 
ha! — I'd  as  soon  turn  a  commissioned  rebel  officer 
loose  in  my  camp  unparoled  as  you." 

"  Then  take  my  parole !  I  give  it !  you  have  it !  I'll 
take  the  chances." 

"  And  the  dances  ?  "  asked  the  Major. 

"  Very  good,"  said  the  General,  "  you  are  now  on 
parole.  See  the  lady  conducted  to  Squire  Gilmer's, 
Major.  And  now,  Miss — eh, — day  after  to-morrow 
morning  I  shall  either  pass  you  beyond  my  lines  or 
else  send  vou  to  Baton  Rouge.  Good-day/' 

211 


The  Cavalier 

When  Charlotte  found  herself  alone  in  a  room  of 
the  Gilmer  house  she  lay  down  upon  the  bed  staring 
and  sighing  with  dismay ;  she  was  bound  by  a  parole ! 
If  within  its  limit  of  time  Oliver  should  appear,  "  It 
will  mean  Baton  Rouge  for  me !  "  she  cried  under  her 
breath,  starting  up  and  falling  back  again ;  "  Baton 
Rouge,  New  Orleans,  Ship  Island !  "  She  was  in  as 
feminine  a  fright  as  though  she  had  never  braved  a 
danger.  Suddenly  a  new  distress  overwhelmed  her: 
if — if — someone  to  deliver  her  should  come — "  Oh 
Heaven !  I  am  paroled ! — bound  hand  and  foot  by  my 
insane  parole ! " 

Softly  she  sprang  from  the  bed,  paced  the  floor,  went 
to  the  window,  seemed  to  look  out  upon  the  landscape  ; 
but  in  truth  she  was  looking  in  upon  herself.  There 
she  saw  a  most  unaccountable  tendency  for  her  judg 
ment — after  some  long  overstrain — momentarily,  but 
all  at  once,  to  swoon,  collapse,  turn  upside  down  like 
a  boy's  kite  and  dart  to  earth;  an  impulse — while 
fancying  she  was  playing  the  supremely  courageous  or 
generous  or  clever  part — suddenly  to  surrender  the 
key  of  the  situation,  the  vital  point  in  whatever  she 
might  be  striving  for.  "  Ah  me,  ah  me !  why  did  I 
give  my  parole?" 

At  the  close  of  the  next  day — "  Walter,"  said  the 
General  as  the  chief-of-staff  entered  his  tent  glittering 
in  blue  and  gold, — "  oh,  thud  devil ! — you  going  to  that 
dance?" 


212 


The  Dance  at  Gilmer's 


XLVI 

THE  DANCE  AT   GILMER^S 

ALL  the  while  that  I  recount  these  scenes  there  come 
to  me  soft  orchestrations  of  the  old  tunes  that  be 
longed  with  them.  I  am  thinking  of  one  just  now; 
a  mere  potsherd  of  plantation-fiddler's  folk-music 
which  I  heard  first — and  last — in  the  dance  at  Gilmer's. 
Indeed  no  other  so  widely  recalls  to  me  those  whole 
years  of  disaster  and  chaos ;  the  daily  shock  of  their 
news,  crashing  in  upon  the  brain  like  a  shell  into  a 
roof ;  wail  and  huzza,  camp-fire,  litter  and  grave ;  bat 
tlefield  stench  ;  fiddle  and  flame ;  and  ever  in  the  midst 
these  impromptu  merrymakings  to  keep  us  from  going 
stark  mad,  one  and  all, — as  so  many  literally  did. 

The  Gilmer  daughters  were  fair,  but  they  were  only 
three,  and  the  Gilmers  were  the  sole  Unionists  in  their 
neighborhood.  "  Still,  a  few  girls  will  come,"  said 
Charlotte,  sparkling  first  blue  and  then  black  at  a  spark 
ling  captain  who  said  that,  after  all,  the  chief-of-staff 
had  decided  he  couldn't  attend.  I  know  she  sparkled 
first  blue  and  then  black,  for  she  always  did  so  when 
she  told  of  it  in  later  days. 

"  They  say,"  responded  the  captain,  "  that  in  this 
handy  little  world  there  are  always  a  few  to  whom 
policy  is  the  best  honesty;  is  that  the  few  who  will 
come?" 

"  You  are  cynical,"  said  Charlotte,  "  this  is  only  their 
unarmed  way  of  saving  house  and  home  for  the  broth- 

213 


The  Cavalier 

ers  to  come  back  to  when  you  are  purged  out  of  the 
land." 

When  the  time  came  there  were  partners  for  eight 
gallants,  and  the  gallants  numbered  sixteen.  They 
counted  off  by  twos ;  the  evens  waited  while  the  odds 
danced  the  half  of  each  set,  and  then  the  odds  waited 
and  cooled,  tried  to  cool,  out  on  the  veranda.  But 
when  a  reel  was  called  the  whole  twenty-four  danced 
together,  while  the  fiddler  (from  the  contraband  camp) 
improvised  exultant  words  to  his  electrifying  tunes. 

44  O  ladies  ramble  in, 

Whilst  de  beaux  ramble  out, 
For  to  quile  *  dat  golden  cha — ain. 
My  Lawdy  /  it's  a  sin 

Fo'  zfiddleh  not  to  shout ! 
Miss  Charlotte 's  a-comin'  down  de  la — ane  !  " 

Now  the  dance  is  off,  but  now  it  is  on  again,  and 
again.  The  fiddler  toils  to  finer  and  finer  heights  of 
enthusiasm ;  slippers  twinkle,  top-boots  flash,  the  evens 
come  in  (to  the  waltz)  and  the  odds,  out  on  the  veranda, 
tell  one  another  confidentially  how  damp  they  are. 
Was  ever  an  evening  so  smotheringly  hot !  Through 
the  house-grove,  where  the  darkness  grows  blacker 
and  blacker  and  the  tepid  air  more  and  more  breath 
less,  they  peer  toward  the  hitching-rail  crowded  with 
their  horses.  Shall  they  take  their  saddles  in,  or  shall 
they  let  them  get  wet  for  fear  the  rebels  may  come  with 
the  shower,  as  toads  do?  [Laughter.]  One  or  two, 
who  grope  out  to  the  animals,  report  only  a  lovely 

*  Coil. 
214 


The   Dance   at  Gilmer's 

picture:  the  glowing  windows;  the  waltzers  circling 
by  them ;  in  the  dining-room,  and  across  the  yard  in 
the  kitchen,  the  house-servants  darting  to  and  fro  as 
busy  as  cannoneers ;  on  their  elbows  at  every  window- 
sill,  and  on  their  haunches  at  every  door,  the  squalid 
field-hands  making  grotesque  silhouettes  against  the 
yellow  glow  that  streamed  out  into  the  trees. 

Now  the  lightning  seems  nearer.  Hark,  that  was 
thunder ;  soft,  but  real.  At  last  the  air  moves ;  there 
is  a  breeze,  and  the  girls  come  out  on  the  gallants' 
arms  to  drink  it  in.  As  they  lift  their  brows  and  sigh 
their  comfort  the  lightning  grows  brighter,  the  thunder 
comes  more  promptly  and  louder,  and  the  maidens 
flinch  and  half  scream,  yet  linger  for  one  more  draft 
of  the  blessed  coolness.  Suddenly  an  inverted  tree  of 
blinding  light  branches  down  the  sky,  and  the  thunder 
crashes  in  one's  very  ears;  the  couples  recoil  into  a 
group  at  the  door,  the  lightning  again  fills  heaven  and 
earth,  it  shows  the  bending  trees  far  afield,  and  the 
thunders  peal  at  each  other  as  if  here  were  all  Vicks- 
burg  and  Port  Hudson,  with  Porter  and  Farragut  go 
ing  by.  So  for  a  space;  then  the  wind  drops  to  a 
zephyr,  and  though  the  sky  still  blazes  and  crashes, 
and  flames  and  roars,  the  house  purrs  with  content 
under  the  sweet  strokings  of  the  rain. 

Let  it  pour!  the  dining-room  is  the  centre  of  all 
things  ;  the  ladies  sip  the  custards  and  nibble  the  cake 
the  gallants  cram  the  cake  and  gulp  the  punch.  The 
fiddler-improvisator  disappears,  reappears,  and  with 
crumbs  on  his  breast  and  pan-gravy  and  punch  on  his 
breath  remounts  his  seat;  and  the  couples  are  again 

215 


The  Cavalier 

on  the  floor.  The  departing  thunders  grumble  as  they 
go,  the  rain  falls  more  and  more  sparingly,  and  now  it 
is  a  waltz,  and  now  a  quadrille,  and  now  it's  a  reel 
again,  with  Miss  Sallie  or  Louise  or  Laura  or  Lucille 
or  Miss  Flora  "  a-comin'  down  de  lane !  " 

So  come  the  stars  again,  one  by  one.  In  a  pause 
between  dances  Charlotte  and  the  staff  captain  go  to 
the  veranda's  far  end  and  stand  against  the  rail.  The 
night  is  still  very  dark,  the  air  motionless.  Charlotte 
is  remarking  how  far  they  can  hear  the  dripping  of  the 
grove,  when  she  gives  a  start  and  the  captain  an 
amused  grunt;  a  soft,  heart-broken,  ear-searching 
quaver  comes  from  just  over  yonder  by  the  horses. 
"  One  of  those  pesky  little  screech-owls,"  he  says. 
"  Don't  know  as  I  ever  heard  one  before  under  just 
these  condi' — humph !  there's  another,  around  on  this 
side." 

"  I  think  I  will  go  in,"  says  Charlotte,  with  a  pre 
tence  of  languor.  As  they  do  so  the  same  note  sounds 
a  third  time;  her  pace  quickens,  and  in  passing  a 
bright  window,  with  a  woman's  protecting  impulse 
she  changes  from  his  left  arm  to  his  right  so  as  to  be  on 
the  side  next  the  owls.  A  moment  later  she  is  alone 
in  the  middle  of  her  room,  a  lighted  candle  in  one 
hand,  a  regally  dressed  doll  in  the  other,  and  in  her 
heart  the  cry,  "  Oh,  Edgard,  Edgard,  my  parole,  my 
parole !  " 

Once  more  she  is  downstairs,  in  the  lane  which  the 
dancers  are  making  for  their  last  reel.  Two  of  the 
gallants  have  gone  out  to  see  the  horses,  and  some 
thing  keeps  them,  but  there  is  no  need  to  wait.  The 

216 


The  Dance  at  Gilmer's 

fiddle  rings  a  chord !  the  merry  double  line  straightens 
down  the  hall  from  front  door  to  rear,  bang !  says  the 
fiddler's  foot — "  hands  round !  " — and  hands  round  it 
is !  In  the  first  of  the  evening  they  had  been  obliged  to 
tell  the  fiddler  the  names  of  the  dancers,  but  now  he 
knows  them  all  and  throws  off  his  flattering  personali 
ties  and  his  overworked  rhymes  with  an  impartial  rota 
tion  and  unflagging  ardor.  Once  in  a  while  some  one 
privately  gives  him  a  new  nickname  for  the  next  man 
"  a-comin'  down  de  lane,"  and  as  he  yawps  it  out  the 
whole  dance  gathers  new  mirth  and  speed. 

Now  the  third  couple  clasp  hands,  arch  arms,  and 
let  the  whole  countermarching  train  sweep  through; 
and  a  beautiful  arch  they  make,  for  they  are  the  afore 
said  captain  and  Charlotte  Oliver.  "  Hands  round !  " 
— hurrah  for  the  whirling  ellipse ;  and  now  it's  "  right 
and  left  "  and  two  ellipses  glide  opposite  ways,  "  to 
quile  dat  golden  chain."  In  the  midst  of  the  whirl, 
when  every  hand  is  in  some  other  anJ  men  and  girls 
are  tossing  their  heads  to  get  their  locks  out  of  their 
eyes,  at  the  windows  come  unnoticed  changes  and  two 
men  loiter  in  by  the  front  hall  door,  close  to  the  fid 
dler.  One  has  his  sword  on,  and  each  his  pistols,  and 
their  boots  and  mud-splashed  uniforms  of  dubious  blue 
are  wet  and  steamy.  The  one  without  the  sword  gives 
the  fiddler  a  fresh  name  to  sing  out  when  the  spinning 
ring  shall  straighten  into  its  two  gay  ranks  again,  and 
bids  him — commandingly — to  yell  it ;  and  with  never 
a  suspicion  of  what  it  stands  for,  the  stamping  and 
scraping  fiddler  shouts  the  name  of  a  man  who  "  loves 
a  good  story  with  a  positive  passion." 

217 


The  Cavalier 


0  Come  a-left,  come  a-right, 

Come  yo'  /*7y-white  hand, 
Fo'  to  quite  dat  golden  cha  —  ain. 
O  ladies  caper  light  — 

Sweetest  ladies  in  de  land— 
NED  FERRY  's  a-comin'  down  de  la—  ane  ! 


i 


i 


=F 


r 


He's  Dead. — la  She  Alive? 
XLVII 

HE'S  DEAD. — IS  SHE  ALIVE? 

CRIES  of  masculine  anger  and  feminine  affright  filled 
the  hall,  but  one  ringing  order  for  silence  hushed  all, 
and  the  dance  stood  still  with  Ned  Ferry  in  its  centre. 
In  his  right  hand,  shoulder  high,  he  held  not  his  sword, 
but  Charlotte's  ringers  lightly  poised  for  the  turn  in 
the  arrested  dance.  "  Stand,  gentlemen,  every  man  is 
covered  by  two ;  look  at  the  doors ;  look  at  the  win 
dows."  The  staff  captain  daringly  sprang  for  the  front 
door,  but  Ferry's  quick  boot  caught  his  instep  and  he 
struck  the  floor  full  length.  Like  lightning  Ferry's 
sword  was  out,  but  he  only  gave  it  a  deferential  sweep. 
"  Sir !  better  luck  next  time ! — Lieutenant  Quinn,  put 
the  Captain  in  your  front  rank." 

Quinn  hustled  the  captives  "  down  a  lane,"  as  the 
fiddler  might  have  said,  of  Ferry's  scouts,  mounted 
them  on  their  own  horses  at  the  door,  and  hurried  them 
away.  Charlotte  had  vanished  but  was  back  again  in 
hat  and  riding-skirt.  Ferry  caught  her  hand  and  they 
ran  to  the  front  veranda  steps  just  as  the  prisoners  and 
guard  rode  swiftly  from  them.  Kendall  and  I  had  the 
stirrup  ready  for  her ;  the  saddle  was  a  man's,  but  she 
made  a  horn  of  its  pommel,  and  in  a  flash  the  four  of 
us  were  mounted.  Nevertheless  before  we  could  move 
the  grove  resounded  with  shots,  and  Ferry,  bidding  us 
ride  on  after  the  fleeing  guard,  wheeled  and  galloped 
to  where  half  our  troop  were  holding  back  their  assail- 

219 


The  Cavalier 

ants  in  the  dark.  But  then,  to  our  distraction,  Char 
lotte  would  not  fly.  "  Richard,  I'm  paroled !  "— "  Char 
lotte  Oliver,  you're  my  prisoner !  "  I  reached  for  her 
bridle,  but  she  avoided  me  and  with  a  cry  of  recollec 
tion  wheeled  and  was  on  her  way  back.  "  I  forgot 
something !  I  can  get  it,  I  left  the  room  lighted !  " 

I  remember  vividly  yet  the  high  purpose  and  girlish 
propitiation  that  rang  together  in  her  voice.  Kendall 
dashed  after  her  while  I  went  against  a  wet  bough  that 
all  but  threw  me;  but  before  he  could  reach  her  she 
flew  up  the  steps,  crying  "  Hold  my  horse !  " 

"  Mine,  too !  "  I  cried,  springing  up  after  her.  How 
queerly  the  inner  house  stood  alight  and  silent,  its 
guests  and  inmates  hidden,  while  outside  pistols  and 
carbines  flashed  and  cracked.  I  came  upon  Charlotte, 
just  recrossing  her  chamber  to  leave  it,  with  her  doll  in 
her  arms.  "  Come !  "  I  cried,  "  our  line  is  falling  back 
behind  the  house !  "  Her  head  flinched  aside,  a  bit  of 
her  hat  flew  from  it,  and  a  pistol-ball  buried  itself  in 
the  ceiling  straight  over  my  head.  We  ran  downstairs 
together,  pulling,  pushing  and  imploring  each  other 
in  the  name  of  honor,  duty  and  heaven  to  let  him — let 
her — go  out  first  through  the  bright  hall  door.  Ken 
dall  was  not  in  sight,  but  in  a  dim  half-light  a  few  yards 
off  we  saw  Oliver.  He  was  afoot,  bending  low,  and 
gliding  toward  us  with  his  revolver  in  his  left  hand. 
He  fired  as  I  did;  her  clutch  spoiled  my  aim;  with 
eager  eyes  she  straightened  to  her  finest  height,  cried 
"  Richard !  tell  Lieutenant  Ferry  he — "  and  with  a 
long  sigh  sank  into  my  arms.  A  rush  of  hoofs  sounded 
behind  Oliver,  he  glanced  up,  and  Ferry's  blade  fell 

220 


He's  Dead. — Is  She  Alive? 

across  his  brow  and  launched  him  face  upward  to  the 
ground.  I  saw  a  bunch  of  horses,  with  mine,  at  the 
foot  of  the  steps,  and  a  bunch  of  men  at  the  top ;  Ferry 
snatched  Charlotte's  limp  form  from  me  and  said  over 
his  shoulder  as  he  went  down  the  steps,  "  Go  get  him 
and  bring  him  along,  dead  or  alive !  " 

I  called  a  man  to  my  aid  and  was  unlucky  in  not  get 
ting  the  cool-headed  Kendall,  for  my  own  wits  were 
gone.  The  next  moment  all  had  left  us  and  I  was  down 
on  the  ground  toiling  frantically,  with  no  help  but  one 
hand  of  my  mounted  companion,  to  heave  the  stalwart 
frame  of  Oliver  up  to  my  saddle. 

"  Why,  he's  dead ! "  cried  the  lad,  letting  him  slide 
half-way  down  when  we  had  all  but  got  him  up ;  "  don't 
you  see  he's  dead  ?  His  head's  laid  wide  open !  He's 
as  dead  as  a  mackerel!  I'll  swear  we  ain't  got  any 
right  to  get  captured  trying  to  save  a  dead  Yankee." 

I  was  in  despair ;  our  horses  had  caught  our  frenzy 
and  were  plunging  to  be  after  their  fellows,  and  a  fresh 
body  of  the  enemy  were  hurtling  into  the  grove. 
Dropping  my  burden  I  vaulted  up,  and  we  scurried 
away,  saved  only  by  the  enemy's  healthy  fear  of  an 
ambush.  The  first  man  we  came  up  with  was  Quinn, 
with  the  rear-guard.  "  Is  he  dead  ?  "  he  growled. 

"  Dead  as  Adam !  "  said  I,  and  my  comrade  put  in 
"Head  laid  wide  open!" 

"  Drop  back  into  the  ranks,"  said  Quinn  to  him. 
"Smith,  ride  on  to  Lieutenant  Ferry.  Corporal," — 
to  a  man  near  him — "  you  know  the  way  so  well,  go 
with  him." 

The  two  of  us  sprang  forward.    How  long  or  what 

221 


The  Cavalier 

way  we  went  I  have  now  no  clear  idea,  but  at  length 
we  neared  again  the  grapevine  ferry.  The  stream  was 
swollen,  we  swam  our  horses,  and  on  the  farther  side 
we  found  Kendall  waiting.  To  the  corporal's  inquiry 
he  replied  that  Ferry  had  just  passed  on.  "  You  know 
Roy's ;  two  miles  off  the  Plank  Road  by  the  first  right? 
He  expects  to  stop  there." 

"Is  she  alive,  Kendall?"  I  interrupted.  "Is  she 
alive?" 

"  No/'  said  he,  to  some  further  question  of  the  cor 
poral  ;  "  I'm  to  wait  here  for  the  command." 

"  Is  she  alive,  Kendall  ?  "  I  asked  again. 

"  Hello,  Smith."  He  scanned  my  dripping  horse. 
"  Your  saddle's  slipped,  Smith.  Yes,  she's  alive." 


XLVIII 

IN   THE  HOLLOW   OF   HIS  RIGHT  ARM 

"  THERE  they  are ! "  said  the  corporal  and  I  at  the 
same  moment,  when  we  had  been  but  a  few  minutes  on 
the  Plank-road.  Two  men  were  ahead  of  us  riding 
abreast,  and  a  few  rods  in  front  of  them  was  a  third 
horseman,  apparently  alone.  Two  others  had  pushed 
on,  one  to  the  house,  the  other  for  surgical  aid.  The 
two  in  the  rear  knew  us  and  let  us  come  up  unchal 
lenged  ;  the  corporal  stayed  with  them,  and  I  rode  on 
to  my  leader's  side. 

Charlotte  lay  in  his  double  clasp  balanced  so  lightly 
on  the  horse's  crest  as  hardly  to  feel  the  jar  of  his 

222 


In  the  Hollow  of  His  Right  Arm 

motion,  though  her  head  lay  as  nearly  level  with  it  as 
Ferry's  bending  shoulders  and  the  hollow  of  his  low 
ered  right  arm  would  allow ;  from  under  his  other  arm 
her  relaxed  figure,  in  its  long  riding-skirt,  trailed  down 
over  his  knee  and  stirrup ;  her  broad  limp  hat,  as  if  it 
had  been  so  placed  in  sport,  hung  at  his  back  with  its 
tie-ribbons  round  his  throat,  while  the  black  masses 
of  her  hair  spread  in  ravishing  desolation  over  and 
under  his  supporting  arm.  Her  face  was  fearfully  pale, 
the  brows  glistened  with  the  damp  of  nervous  shock, 
and  every  few  moments  she  feebly  brought  a  hand 
kerchief  to  her  lips  to  wipe  away  the  blood  that  rose 
to  them  with  every  sigh.  Steadfastly,  except  when  her 
eyes  closed  now  and  then  in  deathly  exhaustion,  her 
gaze  melted  into  his  like  a  suffering  babe's  into  its 
mother's.  From  time  to  time  a  brief  word  passed  be 
tween  them,  and  with  joy  I  noticed  that  it  was  always 
in  French ;  I  hoped  with  my  whole  heart  and  soul  that 
they  had  already  said  things,  and  were  saying  things 
yet,  which  no  one  else  ought  to  hear.  I  waited  some 
time  for  his  notice,  and  when  he  gave  it  it  was  only 
by  saying  to  her  in  a  full  voice  and  in  English  "  Dick 
Smith  is  here,  alongside  of  us." 

Her  response  was  a  question,  which  he  repeated :  "  Is 
he  hurt  ?  no,  Richard  never  gets  hurt.  Shall  he  tell  us 
whatever  he  knows  ?  " 

He  bent  low  for  the  faint  reply,  and  when  it  came 
he  sparkled  with  pride.  " '  It  matters  little/  she  says, 
'  to  either  of  us,  now.'  Give  your  report ;  but  7  tell 
you  " — there  came  a  tiger  look  in  his  eyes — "  there  is 
now  no  turning  back;  we  shall  go  on." 

223 


The  Cavalier 

I  answered  with  soft  elation :  "  My  news  needn't 
turn  you  back :  Oliver  is  dead." 

He  drew  a  long  breath,  murmured  "  My  God !  "  and 
then  suddenly  asked  "  You  found  him  so,  or — ?  " 

"  We  found  him  so ;  had  to  leave  him  so ;  head  laid 
wide  open;  we  were  about  to  be  captured — thought 
the  news  would  be  better  than  nothing — " 

"  Certainly,  yes,  certainly.  Now  I  want  you  to  ride 
to  the  brigade  camp  and  telegraph  Miss  Harper  this : 
'  She  needs  you.  Come  instantly.  Durand.'  " — I  re 
peated  it  to  him.—"  Right,"  he  said.  "  Send  that  first ; 
and  after  that — here  is  a  military  secret  for  you  to  tell 
to  General  Austin;  I  think  you  like  that  kind,  eh? 
Tell  him  I  would  not  send  it  verbally  if  I  had  my  hands 
free.  You  know  that  regiment  at  whose  headquarters 
we  saw  them  singing ;  well,  tell  him  they  are  to  make 
a  move  to-day,  a  bad  mistake,  and  I  think  if  he  will  stay 
right  there  where  he  is  till  they  make  it,  we  can  catch 
the  whole  lot  of  them.  As  soon  as  they  move  I  shall 
report  to  him." 

Two  gasping  words  from  Charlotte  brought  his  eat 
down,  and  with  a  worshipping  light  in  his  eyes  he  said 
to  her  "  Yes,— yes !  "  and  then  to  me,  "  Yes,  I  shall 
report  to  him  in  person.  Now,  Smith,  the  top  of  your 
speed!" 

Reveille  was  sounding  as  I  entered  the  camp.  In 
the  middle  of  my  story  to  the  General — "  Saddle  my 
horse,"  he  said  to  an  attendant,  "  and  send  Mr.  Ghol- 
son  to  me.  Yes,  Smith,  well,  what  then  ?  "—I  resumed, 
but  in  a  minute — "  Mr.  Gholson,  good-morning.  My 
tompliments  to  Major  Harper,  Mr.  Gholson,  and  ask 

224 


In  the  Hollow  of  His  Right  Arm 

him  if  he  wouldn't  like  to  take  a  ride  with  me;  and 
let  me  have  about  four  couriers;  and  send  word  to 
Colonel  Dismukes  that  I  shall  call  at  his  headquarters 
to  see  him  a  moment,  on  my  way  out  of  camp.  Now, 
Smith,  you've  given  me  the  gist  of  the  matter,  haven't 
you?  Oh,  I  think  you  have;  good-morning." 

Gholson  had  helped  me  get  the  despatch  off  to  Miss 
Harper,  whose  coming  no  one  could  be  more  eager  to 
hasten.  Before  leaving  camp  I  saw  him  again.  He 
was  strangely  reticent;  my  news  seemed  to  benumb 
and  sicken  him.  But  as  I  remounted  he  began  without 
connection — "  You  see,  she'll  be  absolutely  alone  until 
Miss  Harper  gets  there ;  not  a  friend  within  call !  He 
won't  be  there,  she  won't  let  him  stay ;  she  dislikes  him 
too  much;  I  know  that,  Smith.  Why,  Smith,  she 
wouldn't  ever  'a'  let  him  carry  her  off  the  field  if  she'd 
been  conscious ;  she'd  sooner  'a'  gone  to  Ship  Island, 
or  to  death !  "  He  looked  as  though  he  would  rather 
she  had.  His  tongue,  now  it  had  started,  could  not 
stop.  "  Ned  Ferry  can't  stay  by  her ;  he  mustn't !  he 
hadn't  ought  to  use  around  anywheres  near  her." 

I  gave  a  sort  of  assent — attended  with  nausea — and 
turned  to  my  saddle,  but  he  clung.  "  Why,  how  can 
he  hang  around  that  way,  Smith,  and  he  a  suitor 
who's  just  killed  her  husband?  Of  course,  now,  he'd 
ought  to  know  he  can't  ever  be  one  henceforth.  I'm 
sorry  for  him,  but — " 

*'  Good-morning,"  I  interrupted,  quite  in  the  Gen 
eral's  manner,  and  made  a  spirited  exit,  but  it  proved 
a  false  one ;  one  thing  had  to  be  said,  and  I  returned. 
"  Gholson,  if  she  should  be  worse  hurt  than — " 

225 


The  Cavalier 

"  Ah !  you're  thinking  of  the  chaplain ;  I've  already 
sent  him.  Yonder  he  goes,  now ;  you  can  show  him 
the  way." 

"  Understand,"  I  said  as  I  wheeled,  "  I  fully  expect 
her  to  recover." 

"  Yes,  oh,  yes  !  "  replied  my  co-religionist,  with  fever 
ish  zest ;  "  we  must  have  faith — for  her  sake !  But 
o — oh!  Smith,  what  a  chastening  judg-ment  this  is 
against  dancing ! " 

I  moved  away,  looking  back  at  him,  and  seeing  by 
his  starved  look  how  he  was  racking  his  jaded  brain 
for  some  excuse  to  go  with  me,  I  honestly  believe  I 
was  sorry  for  him.  The  chaplain  was  a  thick-set,  clean 
shaven,  politic  little  fellow  whose  "  G&od-mawnmg, 
brothah?  "  had  the  heavy  sweetness  of  perfumed  lard. 
We  conversed  fluently  on  spiritual  matters  and  also  on 
Ned  Ferry.  He  asked  me  if  the  Lieutenant  was  "  a  be 
liever." 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  as  to  that,  Lieutenant  Ferry  be 
lieves  there's  something  right  about  everything  that's 
beautiful,  and  something  wrong  about  everything  that 
isn't.  Now,  of  course  that's  a  very  dangerous  idea,  and 
yet — "  So  I  went  on;  ah  me!  the  nightmare  of  it 
hangs  over  me  yet,  "  religionist "  though  I  am,  after 
a  fashion,  unto  this  day.  In  Ferry's  defence  I  main 
tained  that  only  so  much  of  any  man's  religion  as  fitted 
him,  and  fitted  him  not  as  his  saddle  or  his  clothes,  but 
as  his  nervous  system  fitted  him,  was  really  his,  or  was 
really  religion.  I  said  I  knew  a  man  whose  ready- 
made  religion,  small  as  it  was,  bagged  all  over  him 
and  made  him  as  grotesque  as  a  child  in  his  father's 

226 


A  Cruel  Book  and  a  Fool  or  Two 

trousers.  The  chaplain  tittered  so  approvingly  that 
I  straightened  to  spcut  again,  but  just  then  we  saw 
three  distant  figures  that  I  knew  at  a  glance. 

"  There  he  is,  now ! — Excuse  me,  sir — "  I  clapped 
in  the  spurs,  but  the  chaplain  clattered  stoutly  after  me. 
The  two  horsemen  moving  from  us  were  the  General 
and  Major  Harper,  and  the  one  meeting  them  was  Ned 
Ferry.  Between  the  three  and  us  rose  out  of  a  hollow 
the  squad  of  couriers.  And  yonder  came  the  sun. 


XLIX 

A   CRUEL   BOOK   AND  A   FOOL  OR  TWO 

I  COULD  see  by  Ferry's  face  that  there  was  no  worse 
news.  He  met  me  aside,  and  privately  bade  me  go  to 
Roy's  (where  Charlotte  was).  "  Kendall  is  there/'  he 
said ;  "  I  leave  you  and  him  in  charge.  That  will  rest 
your  horses.  Kendall  has  your  Yankee  horse,  his  own 
is  sick.  You  and  Kendall  get  all  the  sleep  you  can, 
you  may  get  none  to-night." 

"  Lieutenant,"  I  began  eagerly  as  he  was  drawing 
away,  "is—?" 

"  Yes !  oh,  yes,  yes !  "  His  eyes  danced,  and  a  soft 
laugh  came,  as  happy  as  a  child's.  "  The  surgeon  is 
yonder,  he  will  tell  you." 

This  person  Kendall  and  I  had  the  luck  to  meet  at 
the  Roy's  breakfast-table.  "  Yes,  left  lung,"  he  said. 
"  No,  hardly  '  perforated,'  but  the  top  deeply  grazed." 
The  ball,  he  said,  had  passed  on  and  out,  and  he  went 
into  particulars  with  me,  while  I  wondered  if  Kendall 

227 


The  Cavalier 

knew,  as  I  did,  what  parts  of  the  body  the  pleura,  the 
thorax,  the  clavicle  and  the  pyemia  were. 

We  lay  down  to  sleep  on  some  fodder  in  the  Widow 
Roy's  stable,  while  around  three  sides  of  the  place, 
in  a  deep  wooded  hollow,  Quinn  and  the  company, 
well  guarded  by  hidden  videttes,  drowsed  in  secret 
bivouac.  I  dreamed.  I  had  feared  I  should,  and  it 
would  have  been  a  sort  of  bitter  heart's-ease  to  tell 
Kendall  of  my  own  particular  haunting  trouble.  For 
now,  peril  and  darkness,  storm,  hard  riding,  the  up 
roar  and  rage  of  man-killing,  all  past  and  gone,  my 
special  private  wretchedness  came  back  to  me  bigger 
than  ever,  like  a  neglected  wound  stiffened  and  swollen 
as  it  has  grown  cold.  But  Kendall  would  not  talk,  and 
when  I  dreamed,  my  dream  was  not  of  Camille.  It 
seemed  to  me  there  was  a  hot  fight  on  at  the  front,  and 
that  I,  in  a  sweat  of  terror,  was  at  the  rear,  hiding 
among  the  wagons  and  telling  Gholson  pale-faced  lies 
as  to  why  I  was  there.  All  at  once  Gholson  became 
Oliver,  alive,  bloody-handed,  glaring  on  me  spectrally, 
cursing,  threatening,  and  demanding  his  wife.  His 
head  seemed  not  "  laid  wide  open,"  but  to  have  only  a 
streak  of  the  skull  bared  by  Ferry's  glancing  left-cut 
and  a  strip  of  the  scalp  turned  inside  out.  Cecile  drew 
his  head  down  and  showed  it  to  me,  in  a  transport  of 
reproaches,  as  though  my  false  report  had  wronged 
no  one  else  so  ruinously  as  her. 

I  awoke  aghast.  If  Kendall  had  still  been  with  me 
I  might,  in  the  first  flush  of  my  distress,  have  told  my 
vision;  but  in  the  place  where  Kendall  had  lain  lay 
Harry  Helm.  Kendall  was  gone ;  a  long  beam  of  after- 

228 


A  Cruel  Book  and  a  Fool  or  Two 

noon  sunlight  shone  across  my  lair  through  a  chink 
in  the  log  stable.  I  sprang  half  up  with  an  exclama 
tion,  and  Harry  awoke  with  a  luxurious  yawn  and 
smile.  Kendall,  he  said,  had  left  with  the  company, 
which  had  marched.  Quinn  was  in  command  and  had 
told  Harry  that  he  was  only  going  to  show  the  enemy 
that  there  was  no  other  hostile  force  in  their  front,  and 
get  himself  chased  away  southeastward. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  he  was  telling  me  the  truth 
or  not,"  said  Helm,  as  we  led  our  saddled  horses 
toward  the  house ;  "  I  reckon  he  didn't  want  me  along 
side  of  him  with  this  arm  in  a  sling."  The  hand  was 
bad;  lines  of  pain  were  on  the  aide's  face.  He  had 
taken  the  dead  Louisianian  home,  got  back  to  camp, 
and  ridden  down  here  to  get  the  latest  news  concern 
ing  Charlotte.  Kendall  had  already  given  him  our 
story  of  the  night ;  I  had  to  answer  only  one  inquiry. 
"  Oh,  yes,"  was  my  reply,  "  head  laid  wide  open !  "  But 
to  think  of  my  next  meeting  with  Ned  Ferry  almost 
made  me  sick. 

Harry  was  delighted.  "That  lays  their  way  wide 
open — Ned's  and  hers!  Smith,  some  God-forsaken 
fool  brought  a  chaplain  here  to  talk  religion  to  her! 
He  hasn't  seen  her — Doctor  wouldn't  let  him ;  but  he's 
here  yet,  and — George !  if  I  was  them  I'd  put  him  to  a 
better  use  than  what  he  came  here  for,  and  I'd  do  it 
so  quick  it  would  make  his  head  swim !  "  He  went  on 
into  all  the  arguments  for  it;  the  awkwardnesses  of 
Charlotte's  new  situation,  her  lack  of  means  for  even  a 
hand-to-mouth  daily  existence,  and  so  on.  Seeing  an 
ambulance  coming  in  through  the  front  gate,  and  in 

229 


The  Cavalier 

order  not  to  lose  the  chance  for  my  rejoinder,  I  inter 
rupted.  "  Lieutenant,  she  will  not  allow  it !  She  will 
make  him  wait  a  proper  time  before  he  may  as  much 
as  begin  a  courtship,  and  then  he  will  have  to  begin  at 
the  beginning.  She's  not  going  to  let  Ned  Ferry  nar 
row  or  lower  her  life  or  his — no,  neither  of  them  is 
going  to  let  the  other  do  it — because  a  piece  of  luck  has 
laid  the  way  wide  open !  "  I  ended  with  a  pomp  of 
prophecy,  yet  I  could  hear  Ned  Ferry  saying  again, 
with  Charlotte's  assenting  eyes  in  his,  "  There  is  no 
turning  back."  . 

The  driver  of  the  ambulance  did  not  know  why  he 
had  been  ordered  to  report  here,  but  when  the  Widow 
Roy  came  to  the  door  she  brought  explanation  enough. 
A  courier  had  come  to  her  and  gone  again,  and  the 
chaplain  and  the  surgeon  and  every  one  else  of  any 
"  army  sort  "  except  us  two  had  "  put  out,"  and  she 
was  in  a  sad  flurry.  "  The  Lieutenant,"  she  said, 
"  writes  in  this-yeh  note  that  this-yeh  place  won't  be 
safe  Pom  the  Yankees  much  longer'n  to-day,  and  fo' 
us  to  send  the  wounded  lady  in  the  avalanch.  Which 
she  says,  her  own  self,  it'd  go  rough  with  her  to  fall 
into  they  hands  again.  My  married  daughter  she's 
a-goin'  with  her,  and  the'd  ought  to  be  a  Mr.  Sm' — oh, 
my  Lawdy !  you  ain't  reg-lahly  in  the  ahmy,  air  you  ?  " 

With  some  slave  men  to  help  us,  Harry  and  I  bore 
Charlotte  out  and  laid  her  in  the  ambulance,  mattress 
and  all,  on  an  under  bedding  of  fodder.  She  had 
begged  off  from  opiates,  and  was  as  full  of  the  old  star 
light  as  if  the  day,  still  strong,  were  gone.  I  helped 
the  married  daughter  up  beside  the  driver,  Harry  and 

230 


A  Cruel  Book  and  a  Fool  or  Two 

I  mounted,  and  we  set  forth  for  the  brigade  camp. 
Mrs.  Roy's  daughter  had  with  her  a  new  romance, 
which  she  had  been  reading  to  Charlotte.  Now  she 
was  eager  to  resume  it,  and  Charlotte  consented.  It 
was  a  work  of  some  merit ;  I  have  the  volume  yet,  in 
scribed  to  me  on  the  fly-leaf  "  from  C.  O.,"  as  I  have 
once  already  stated,  in  my  account  of  my  friend  "  The 
Solitary."  At  the  end  of  a  mile  we  made  a  change; 
Harry  rode  a  few  yards  ahead  with  an  officer  who 
happened  to  overtake  us,  I  took  the  reins  from  the 
ambulance  driver,  and  he  followed  on  my  horse;  I 
thought  I  could  drive  more  smoothly  than  he. 

And  so  I  began  to  hear  the  tale.  I  was  startled  by 
its  strong  reminder  of  Charlotte's  own  life ;  but  Char 
lotte  answered  my  anxious  glance  with  a  brow  so  un- 
fretted  that  I  let  the  reading  go  on,  and  so  made  a 
cruel  mistake.  At  every  turning-point  in  the  story  its 
reader  would  have  paused  to  talk  it  over,  but  Char 
lotte,  with  a  steadily  darkling  brow,  murmured  each 
time  "  Go  on,"  and  I  was  silent,  hoping  that  farther 
along  there  would  be  a  better  place  to  stop  for  good. 
Not  so;  the  story's  whirling  flood  swept  us  forward 
to  a  juncture  ever  drawing  nearer  and  clearer,  clearer 
and  crueler,  where  a  certain  man  would  have  to  choose 
between  the  woman  he  loved  and  that  breadth  and 
fruitfulness  of  life  to  which  his  splendid  gifts  imperi 
ously  pointed  him.  Oh,  you  story-tellers !  Every  next 
page  put  the  question  plainer,  drove  the  iron  deeper: 
must  a  man,  or  even  may  a  man,  wed  his  love,  when 
she  stands  between  him  and  his  truest  career,  a  draw 
back  and  drag  upon  his  finest  service  to  his  race  and 

331 


The  Cavalier 

day  ?  And,  oh,  me !  who  let  my  eye  quail  when  Char 
lotte  searched  it,  as  though  her  own  case  had  brought 
that  question  to  me  before  ever  we  had  seen  this  book. 
And,  oh,  that  impenetrable  woman  reading !  Her  hus 
band  was  in  Lee's  army,  out  of  which,  she  boasted,  she 
would  steal  him  in  a  minute  if  she  could.  She  was  with 
us,  now,  only  because,  at  whatever  cost  to  others,  she 
was  going  where  no  advancement  of  the  enemy's  lines 
could  shut  her  off  from  him ;  and  so  stop  reading  a  mo 
ment  she  must,  to  declare  her  choice  for  Love  as  against 
all  the  careers  on  earth,  and  to  put  that  choice  fairly  to 
shame  by  the  unworthiness  of  her  pleadings  in  its  de 
fence.  I  intervened;  I  put  her  grovelling  arguments 
aside  and  thrust  better  ones  in,  for  the  same  choice, 
and  then,  in  the  fear  that  they  were  not  enough,  stum 
bled  into  special  pleading  and  protested  that  the  book 
itself  had  put  the  question  unfairly. 

"  Shut  it,"  said  Charlotte,  with  a  sigh  like  that  which 
had  risen  when  the  lead  first  struck  her.  "  If  I  could 
be  moved  ever  so  little, — "  she  said. 

I  had  the  driver  tie  my  horse  behind  the  vehicle  and 
resume  the  lines.  Then  the  soldier's  wife  and  I  moved 
Charlotte,  and  when  the  reader  began  to  handle  the 
book  again  wishfully  our  patient  said,  with  the  kindest 
voice,  "  Read  the  rest  of  it  to  yourself ;  I  know  how  it 
will  end;  it  will  end  to  please  you,  not  as  it  ought; 
not  as  it  ought." 

For  a  while  we  went  in  silence,  and  she  must  have 
seen  that  my  heart  was  in  a  rage,  for  with  suffering  on 
her  brow,  amusement  on  her  lips,  and  a  sweet  despera 
tion  in  her  eyes,  she  murmured  my  name.  "  Richard : 

232 


A  Cruel  Book  and  a  Fool  or  Two 

— what  fun  it  must  have  been  to  live  in  those  old  Dark 
Ages — when  all  you  had  to  do — was  to  turn  any  one 
passion  into — one  splendid  virtue — at  the  expense — of 
all  the  rest." 

I  could  answer  pleadingly  that  it  were  far  better  not 
to  talk  now.  But  she  would  go  on,  until  in  my  help 
lessness  I  remarked  how  beautiful  the  day  had  been. 
Her  eyes  changed;  she  looked  into  mine  with  her 
calm  inward-outward  ken,  and  once  more  with  smil 
ing  lips  and  suffering  brow  murmured,  "  Yes."  I  mar 
velled  she  should  betray  such  wealth  of  meaning  to 
such  as  I ;  yet  it  was  like  her  splendid  bravery  to  do  it. 

At  the  brigade's  picket,  where  I  was  angry  that 
Ferry  did  not  meet  us,  and  had  resumed  the  saddle  and 
stretched  all  the  curtains  of  the  ambulance,  who  should 
appear  but  Scott  Gholson.  Harry  and  I  were  riding 
abreast  in  advance  of  the  ambulance.  Gholson  and 
he  barely  said  good-evening.  I  asked  him  where  was 
Lieutenant  Ferry,  and  scarcely  noted  his  words,  so 
promptly  convinced  was  I  by  their  mere  tone  that  he 
had  somehow  contrived  to  get  Ferry  sent  on  a  dis 
tant  errand.  "  Is  she  better?  "  he  inquired;  "  has  the 
hemorrhage  stopped  ?  " 

"  It's  begun  again,"  growled  Harry,  who  wanted 
both  of  us  to  suffer  all  we  could.  Gholson  led  us 
through  the  camp.  A  large  proportion  of  the  men 
were  sleeping  when  as  yet  it  was  hardly  night. 

"  Has  the  brigade  got  marching  orders  ?  "  I  asked, 
and  he  said  the  three  regiments  had,  though  not  the 
battery.  He  passed  over  to  me  two  pint  bottles  filled, 
corked,  and  dangling  from  his  fingers  by  a  stout  double 

233 


The  Cavalier 

twine  on  the  neck  of  each.  "  Every  man  has  them,"  he 
said ;  "  hang  one  on  each  side  of  your  belt  in  front  of 
your  pistol." 

I  held  them  up  and  scowled  from  them  to  Harry, 
and  we  both  laughed,  so  transparent  was  Gholson's 
purpose  to  get  every  one  away  from  our  patient  who 
yearned  to  be  near  her.  "  One  in  front  of  each  pistol," 
I  said,  so  tying  them ;  "  but  use  the  pistols  first,  I 
suppose." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Gholson,  "  pistols  first,  and  then  the 
turpentine."  Whereat  Harry  and  I  exchanged  glances 
again,  it  came  so  pat  that  Scott  Gholson  should  be  a 
dispenser  of  inflammables.  At  a  house  a  mile  behind 
the  camp  the  surgeon  stood  waiting  for  us.  He 
frowned  at  me  the  instant  he  saw  Charlotte,  and  I 
heard  him  swear.  As  we  bore  her  in  with  Gholson  and 
me  next  her  head  she  murmured  to  him: 

"  Mr.  Gholson,  when  does  the  command  move  ?  " 

"  At  twelve,"  he  replied,  and  I  bent  and  softly  added 
"  That's  why—" 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  with  a  quick,  understanding  look, 
and  wiped  her  lips  as  daintily  as  if  it  were  with  wine 
they  were  crimsoned. 


234 


The  Bottom  of  the  Whirlwind 


THE  BOTTOM  OF  THE  WHIRLWIND 

ON  my  way  back  through  camp  with  Gholson  I  saw 
old  Dismukes.  He  called  me  to  him,  quit  his  cards,  and 
led  me  into  his  tent.  There,  very  beguilingly,  he  ques 
tioned  me  at  much  length,  evidently  seeking  to  draw 
from  the  web  of  my  replies  the  thread  of  Ferry's  and 
Charlotte's  story;  and  as  I  saw  that  he  believed  in  both 
of  them  with  all  his  brutal  might,  I  let  him  win  a  cer 
tain  success.  "Head  laid  wide  open!"  he  said  glee 
fully,  and  boiled  over  with  happy  blasphemings. 

I  left  him,  found  supper,  and  had  been  long  asleep 
under  a  tree,  when  I  grabbed  savagely  at  some  one  for 
silently  shaking  me,  and  found  it  was  Ned  Ferry.  His 
horse's  bridle  was  in  his  hand;  his  face  was  more  filled 
with  the  old  pain  than  I  had  ever  seen  it;  he  spoke  low 
and  hurriedly.  "  Come,  tell  me  what  this  means." 

In  an  envelope  addressed  to  him  in  the  handwriting 
I  had  first  seen  at  Lucius  Oliver's  I  found  a  scripture- 
text,  a  heading  torn  from  a  tract  which  the  chaplain 
may  have  sent  in  to  Charlotte  in  the  morning.  I  turned 
it  to  the  light  of  my  fire.  Under  this  printed  line  she 
had  pencilled  her  name. 

I  asked  if  he  had  seen  her.  "Ah,  no!  the  Doctor 
has  drugged  her  to  sleep;  but  that  woman  who  came 
with  you  was  still  in  the  parlor,  reading  a  book,  and 
she  gave  me  this.  What  does  it  mean  ?  " 

"  Lieutenant,"  I  replied,  choking  with  dismay, "  why 
235 


The  Cavalier 

mind  her  meanings  now?  Ought  you  not  rather  to  ig 
nore  them?  She  is  fevered,  dejected,  overwrought. 
Why,  sir,  she  is  the  very  woman  to  say  and  mean  things 
now  which  she  would  never  say  or  mean  at  any  other 
time !  "  But  my  tone  must  have  shown  that  I  was  only 
groping  in  desperation  after  anything  plausible,  and  he 
waved  my  suggestions  away. 

"  The  Doctor  says  that  woman  has  been  reading  her 
an  exciting  story." 

"  Yes,  and  that  helps  to  account — " 

"  Richard,  it  helps  the  wrong  way ;  /  know  that  story. 
After  hearing  that  story  she  is,  yes!  the  one  woman  of 
all  women  to  send  me  this" 

I  took  it  again.  The  signature  was  extended  in  full, 
with  the  surname  blackly  underlined.  The  first  clause 
of  the  print,  too,  was  so  treated.  " Keep  thy  heart"  it 
read;  "Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence;  for  out  of  it 
are  the  issues  of  life. — Charlotte  Oliver." 

"  Why,  Lieutenant,  that  is  just  what  you  have 
done — " 

"  You  think  so?  But  I  have  done.  I  will  keep  it  no 
longer!  Ah,  I  never  kept  it;  'twas  she!  Without  tak 
ing  it  from  me  she  kept  it — '  with  all  diligence ' ;  other 
wise  I  should  have  lost  it — and  her,  too — and  all  that 
is  finest  and  hardest  to  keep — long  ago.  Give  me  that 
paper;  come;  saddle  up;  you  may  go  with  me  if  you 
want,  as  my  courier."  No  bugle  had  sounded,  yet  the 
whole  camp  was  softly  and  diligently  astir.  We  rode 
toward  the  staff  tents ;  the  pulse  of  enterprise  enlivened 
him  once  more,  though  he  clung  to  the  same  theme. 
"  I  have  her  heart  now,  Smith,  and  I  will  keep  that  with 

230 


The  Bottom  of  the   Whirlwind 

all  diligence,  for  out  of  that  are  the  issues  of  my  life— 
if  I  live.  And  if  I  do  live  I  will  have  her  if  I  have  to 
steal  her  even  from  herself,  as  last  night  from  the 
Yankees." 

Three  hours  later  the  stars  still  gleamed  down 
through  the  balmy  night  above  the  long  westward-gal 
loping  column  of  our  brigade,  that  for  those  three  hours 
had  not  slackened  from  the  one  unmitigated  speed.  The 
Federal  regiment  of  whose  plans  Charlotte  had  apprised 
Ferry  had  been  camped  well  to  southward  of  this  course, 
but  in  the  day  just  past  they  had  marched  to  the  north, 
intending  a  raid  around  our  right  and  into  our  rear. 
To-night  they  were  resting  in  a  wide  natural  meadow 
through  the  middle  of  which  ran  this  road  we  were  on. 
Around  the  southern  edge  of  this  inviting  camp-ground 
lay  a  considerable  stream  of  water;  the  northern  side 
was  on  rising  ground  and  skirted  by  woods,  and  in  these 
woods  as  day  began  to  break  stood  our  brigade,  its 
presence  utterly  unsuspected  in  all  that  beautiful 
meadow  whitened  over  with  lane  upon  lane  of  the  tents 
of  the  regiment  of  Federal  cavalry,  whose  pickets  we 
had  already  silently  surprised  and  captured.  Now,  as 
warily  as  quails,  we  moved  along  an  unused,  woodcut 
ters*  road  and  began  to  trot  up  a  gentle  slope  beyond 
whose  crest  the  forest  sank  to  the  meadow.  We  were 
within  a  few  yards  of  this  crest,  when  a  small  mounted 
patrol  came  up  from  the  other  side,  stood  an  instant 
profiled  against  the  sky,  bent  low,  gazed,  wheeled  and 
vanished. 

Over  the  crest  we  swept  after  them  at  a  gallop  and 
saw  them  half-way  down  an  even  incline,  going  at  a 

237 


The  Cavalier 

mad  run  and  yelling  "  Saddle  up !  saddle  up !  the  rebels 
are  coming!  saddle  up!"  The  bugles  had  begun  the 
reveille ;  it  ceased,  and  the  next  instant  they  were  sound 
ing  the  call  To  Arms.  It  was  only  a  call  to  death ; 
already  we  were  half  across  the  short  decline  and  com 
ing  like  a  tornado;  in  the  white  camp  the  blue- 
coats  were  running  hither  and  yon  deaf  to  the  brave 
shoutings  of  their  captains ;  above  the  swelling  thunder 
of  our  hoofs  rose  the  mad  yell  of  the  onset ;  and  now 
carbines  peal  and  pistols  crack,  and  here  are  the  tents 
so  close  you  may  touch  them,  and  yonder  is  one  already 
•in  a  light  blaze,  and  at  every  hand  and  under  every 
horse's  foot  is  the  crouching,  quailing,  falling  foe,  the 
air  is  one  crash  of  huzzas  and  groans,  screams,  shots 
and  commands,  horses  with  riders  and  horses  without 
plunge  through  the  flames  and  smoke  of  the  burning 
tents,  and  again  and  again  I  see  Ned  Ferry  with  the 
flat  of  his  unstained  sword  strike  pistol  or  carbine  from 
hands  too  brave  to  cast  them  tamely  down,  and  hear 
him  cry  "  Throw  down  your  arms !  For  God's  sake 
throw  down  your  arms  and  run  to  the  road !  run  to  the 
public  road !  " 

And  still  every  moment  men  fell,  and  what  could  we 
do  but  smite  while  the  foe's  bugles  still  rang  out  from 
beside  his  unfurled  standard.  Thitherward  sprang  a 
swarm  of  us  and  found  a  brave  group  massed  on  foot 
around  the  colors,  men  and  officers  shoulder  to  shoul 
der  in  sudden  equality.  I  saw  Ned  Ferry  make  straight 
for  their  commander,  who  alone  had  out  his  sabre ;  the 
rest  stood  with  cocked  revolvers,  and  at  twenty  yards 
fired  low.  Ferry's  horse  was  hit;  he  reared,  but  the 

238 


The  Bottom  of  the  Whirlwind 

spur  carried  him  on;  his  rider's  sword  flashed  up  and 
then  down,  the  Federal's  sabre  turned  it,  the  pistols 
cracked  in  our  very  faces,  and  down  went  my  leader  and 
his  horse  into  the  bottom  of  the  whirlwind,  right  under 
the  standard.  I  saw  the  standard-bearer  bring  down 
one  of  our  men  on  top  of  Ferry,  and  as  Ferry  half  re 
gained  his  feet  the  Federal  aimed  point-blank  against 
his  breast.  But  it  was  I  who  fired  and  the  Federal  who 
fell.  As  he  reeled  I  stretched  out  for  the  standard,  and 
exactly  together  Ned  Ferry  and  I  seized  it — the  same 
standard  we  had  seen  the  night  before.  But  instantly, 
graciously,  he  thrust  it  from  him.  '  'Tis  yours !  "  he 
cried  in  the  midst  of  a  general  huzza,  smiling  up  at  it 
and  me  as  I  swung  the  trophy  over  my  head.  Then  he 
turned  ghastly  pale,  his  smile  faded  to  an  unmeaning 
stare,  two  or  three  men  leaped  to  his  side,  and  he  sank 
lifelessly  into  their  arms  beside  his  dying  horse. 

I  was  swinging  from  the  saddle  to  my  leader's  relief, 
when  a  familiar  voice  forbade  it,  and  old  Dismukes 
came  by  at  a  long  trot,  pointing  forward  with  the 
reddest  sabre  I  ever  saw,  and  bellowing  to  right  and 
left  with  oaths  and  curses  "  Fall  in,  every  man,  on 
yon  line!  Ride  to  yon  line  and  fall  in,  there's  more 
Yankees  coming!  Ride  down  yonder  and  fa' — here, 
you,  Legs,  there!  follow  me.  and  shoot  down  every 
man  that  stops  to  plunder ! " 

Now  I  saw  the  new  firing-line,  out  on  our  left,  and  as 
the  rattle  of  it  quickened,  the  Colonel  galloped,  still  roar 
ing  out  his  rallying-cries  and  wiping  his  reeking  blade 
across  his  charger's  mane.  Throngs  gathered  after 
him;  the  high-road  swarmed  with  prisoners  double- 

239 


The  Cavalier 

quicking  to  the  rear  under  mounted  guards ;  here,  thinly 
stretched  across  the  road  at  right-angles,  were  our 
horse-holders,  steadily,  coolly  falling  back;  farther  for 
ward,  yet  vividly  near,  was  our  skirmish-line,  crackling 
and  smoking,  and  beyond  it  the  enemy's,  in  the  edge 
of  a  wood,  not  yet  quite  venturing  to  fling  itself  upon 
us.  We  passed  General  Austin  standing,  mounted,  at 
the  top  of  the  rise,  with  a  number  of  his  staff  about 
him.  Minie  balls  had  begun  to  sing  about  them  and  us, 
and  some  officer  was  telling  me  rudely  I  had  no  business 
bringing  that  standard — when  something  struck  like  a 
sledge  high  up  on  my  side,  almost  in  the  arm-pit ;  I  told 
one  of  our  men  I  was  wounded  and  gave  him  the  trophy, 
our  horse-holders  suddenly  came  forward,  every  man 
afoot  rose  into  his  saddle,  and  my  horse  wheeled 
and  hurried  rearward  at  a  speed  I  strove  in  vain  to 
check.  Then  the  old  messmate  to  whom  I  had  said 
good-bye  at  this  very  hour  just  a  week  before,  came  and 
held  me  by  the  right  arm,  while  I  begged  him  like  a 
drunk-and-disorderly  to  let  me  go  and  find  Ned  Ferry. 
But  he  said  Lieutenant  Ferry  was  in  a  captured  am 
bulance  ahead  of  us  and  of  our  hundreds  of  prisoners, 
that  a  full  creek  and  a  burning  bridge  were  between  us 
and  the  foe,  and  that  the  fight  was  over. 


240 


Under  the  Room  Where  She  Lay 
LI 

UNDER  THE  ROOM    WHERE   CHARLOTTE   LAY 

THE  fight  was  over  only  in  degree.  Our  brigade  was 
drawing  away  into  the  north  and  the  enemy  were  press 
ing  revengefully  after  them.  Our  hundreds  of  prison 
ers  and  our  few  wounded  were  being  taken  back  east 
ward  over  the  road  by  which  we  had  come  in  the  night, 
and  even  after  we  had  turned  into  it  I  saw  a  Yankee 
shell  kill  a  wounded  man  and  his  horse  not  thirty  yards 
from  me. 

Before  we  had  gone  another  mile  I  met  Harry  Helm. 
The  General  had  left  him  in  camp  with  flat  orders  to 
remain,  but  at  daylight  he  had  ridden  out  to  find  us. 
He  was  in  two  tremendous  moods  at  once;  lifted  to 
heaven  on  the  glory  of  our  deeds,  yet  heart-broken  over 
the  fate  of  Ned  Ferry.  "  Surgeon's  told  him  he  can't 
live,  Dick !  And  all  the  effect  that's  had — '  No  opiates, 
then,  Doctor,'  s'e,  '  till  I  get  off  these  two  or  three  de 
spatches.'  So  there  he  lies  in  that  ambulance  cross- 
questioning  prisoners  and  making  everybody  bring  him 
every  scrap  of  information,  as  if  he  were  General  Austin 
and  Major  Harper  rolled  into  one  and  they  were  wound 
ed  instead  of  him — By  George !  Dick,  he  knows  you're 
hit  and  just  how  you're  hit,  and  has  sent  me  to  find 
you!" 

I  said  I  thought  I  could  gallop  if  Harry  could,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  we  were  up  with  the  ambulance.  It 
had  stopped.  There  were  several  men  about  it,  includ- 

241 


The  Cavalier 

ing  Sergeant  Jim  and  Kendall,  which  two  had  come 
from  Quinn,  and  having  just  been  in  the  ambulance,  at 
Ferry's  side,  were  now  remounting,  both  of  them  openly 
in  tears.  "  Hello,  Kendall."  • 

"  Hello,  Smith."  He  turned  sharply  from  me,  horse 
and  all. 

"  Good  -  morning,  sergeant,  is  Lieutenant  Ferry — 
worse?  " 

The  sergeant  only  jabbed  in  the  spurs,  and  leapt  away 
with  Kendall,  bearing  despatches  to  the  brigade. 
Harry,  looking  back  to  me  from  the  ambulance,  called 
softly,  "  All  right  again ;  it  was  only  a  bad  swoon ! " 

"  Hello,  Smith,"  said  some  one  whom  I  was  too  sick 
'  md  dizzy  to  recognize,  "  one  of  those  prisoners  says 
he  saw  Oliver  dead." 

They  say  two  or  three  men  sprang  to  catch  me,  but 
the  first  thing  I  knew  was  that  the  ambulance  was  un 
der  way  and  I  in  it  on  my  back  within  elbow-touch  of 
Ferry,  looking  up  into  a  surgeon's  face.  "  How's  the 
Lieutenant?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh — getting  on,  getting  on,"  he  replied.  Doctors 
think  patients  are  fools. 

In  a  parlor  under  the  room  where  Charlotte  lay  they 
made  a  bed  for  Ferry  and  one  for  me,  and  here,  lapped 
in  luxury  and  distinction,  I  promptly  fell  asleep,  and 
when  I  reopened  my  eyes  it  was  again  afternoon.  In 
the  other  bed  Ferry  was  slumbering,  and  quite  across 
the  room,  beside  a  closed  door,  sat  Cecile  and  Camille. 
The  latter  tiptoed  to  me.  Her  whispers  were  as  soft 
as  breathing,  and  when  I  answered  or  questioned,  her 

242 


Under  the  Room  Where  She  Lay 

ear  sank  as  near  as  you  would  put  a  rose  to  smell  it. 
"The  Lieutenant,  sleeping?  yes,  this  hour  past; 
surgeons  surprised  and  more  hopeful.  Miss  Estelle? 
in  another  room  with  other  wounded.  Her  aunt?  up 
stairs  with  Charlotte,  who  was — oh — getting  on,  get 
ting  on."  That  made  me  anxious. 

"  Does  Charlotte,"  I  asked,  "  know— everything?  " 

Camille  allowed  herself  all  the  motions  of  a  laugh, 
and  said  "No,  not  quite  everything;"  and  then  with 
solemn  tenderness  she  added  that  Charlotte  knew  about 
Ferry.  "And  she  knows  about  you"  the  whisperer 
went  on ;  "  they  all  know." 

I  thought  she  was  alluding  to  the  verses,  and  had  an 
instant  of  terror  and  rage  before  I  saw  what  she  meant. 
She  glided  back  to  the  door  and  the  two  opened  it  an 
inch  or  so  to  answer  some  inquirer  without.  I  saw  her 
no  more  until  bedtime,  when  she  stood  at  her  aunt's 
elbow  to  hand  and  hold  things,  while  Miss  Harper,  to 
my  all  but  screaming  embarrassment,  bared  the  whole 
upper  half  of  one  side  of  me  and  washed  and  dressed 
my  wound  anew.  Ferry  it  was  imperative  to  let  alone, 
but  when  I  awoke  the  next  morning  there  was  a  radi 
ance  of  joy  throughout  all  the  house ;  for  he  had  slept 
and  improved.  The  next  morning  again  he  was  ever 
so  much  stronger,  and  Harry  Helm  rode  off  in  simulat 
ed  disgust,  not  seeing  "  any  fun  in  hanging  round  girls 
who  were  hanging  round  other  fellows." 

Another  day  arose.  A  courier  brought  passes  for 
our  three  or  four  other  wounded  to  go  home  as  soon  as 
they  were  fit  to  travel,  and  by  night  they  were  all  gone. 
At  early  bedtime  came  two  surgeons  of  high  rank  all 

243 


The  Cavalier 

the  way  from  Johnston's  army  up  in  Mississippi.  Gen 
eral  Austin  had  asked  this  favor  by  telegraph.  Harry 
had  been  gone  thirty-six  hours,  and  Ferry  was  just  ask 
ing  if  he  had  not  yet  got  back,  when  the  surgeons  came 
in  to  the  room.  A  pleasantry  or  two  consumed  a  few 
moments.  Then  the  surgeon  in  charge  of  us  told  of 
a  symptom  or  two,  to  which  they  responded  only 
"  hmm,"  and  began  the  examination.  Miss  Harper 
sent  her  three  nieces  away.  I  lay  and  listened  in  the 
busy  stillness.  Present-y  one  of  the  examiners  mur 
mured  with  a  certain  positiveness  to  the  other,  who 
after  a  moment's  silence  replied  with  conviction ;  Miss 
Harper  touched  our  surgeon's  arm  inquiringly  and 
he  looked  back  in  a  glad  way  and  nodded.  Miss  Har 
per  nodded  to  me;  they  had  located  the  ball!  Now 
the  conversation  turned  upon  men  and  events  of  the 
day,  while  one  of  the  visitors,  with  his  back  to  the 
patient;  opened  a  case  of  glittering  knives.  Presently 
the  professional  heads  came  so  close  together  as  quite 
to  hide  the  patient ;  they  spoke  once  or  twice  in  a  manly 
soothing  tone.  Miss  Harper  stroked  my  temples  to 
keep  me  down,  one  of  the  busy  ones  spoke  again,  and 
lo!  the  thing  was  done,  there  was  the  ball  in  the  basin. 
As  the  men  of  blood  sped  through  their  kind  after-work 
the  news  flew  to  and  fro ;  Camille  wept, — since  she  could 
not  hurrah, — Cecile  told  Charlotte,  the  heavenly-mind 
ed  Estelle  was  confirmed  in  her  faith,  Miss  Harper's 
black  eyes,  after  a  brief  overflow,  were  keener  and  kind 
lier  than  ever,  and  as  the  surgeons  spoke  the  word 
"  done/'  Ferry  asked  again  if  Harry  had  not  got  back 
yet. 

244 


Same  Book  and  Light-Head  Harry 

Pretty  soon  Harry  did  arrive,  with  news  of  great  feats 
by  our  cavalry  against  our  old  enemy  Grierson,  in  which 
Austin's  brigade  had  covered  themselves  with  glory, 
and  in  which  he  had  had  his  own  share;  his  hand  was 
swelled  as  big  as  his  heart.  In  all  the  Confederacy  no 
houseful  went  to  sleep  that  night  in  sweeter  content. 
I  sank  into  perfect  bliss  planning  a  double  wedding. 


LII 

SAME   BOOK    AND   LIGHT-HEAD    HARRY 

THE  next  day  found  me  so  robustly  happy  that  I  was 
allowed  to  dress  and  walk  out  to  the  front  door.  Three 
days  later  the  surgeons  were  gone,  all  three,  and  at  the 
approach  of  dew-fall  Cecile  and  Harry,  Camille  and  I, 
walked  in  a  field-path,  gathered  hedge  roses,  and  de 
bated  the  problem  of  Mrs.  Roy's  daughter's  book,  which 
all  of  us  were  reading  and  none  had  finished. 

"  A  woman,"  I  remarked,  "  who,  for  very  love  of  a 
man,  can  say  to  him,  *  Go  on  up  the  hill  without  me,  I 
have  a  ball  and  chain  on  my  foot  and  you  shall  not 
carry  them  and  me,  you  have  a  race  to  run,' — a  woman 
so  wonderfully  good  as  to  say  that — " 

"  Ah,  no !  "  interrupted  Cecile,  with  her  killing  Cre 
ole  accent,  "  not  a  woman  so  good  to  say  that,  only  with 
the  so-good  sanse  to  say  it." 

Harry  was  openly  vexed.  "  Well,  either  way!  would 
any  true  man  leave  that  woman  behind?  "  and  I  tried 
to  put  in  that  that  was  what  I  had  been  leading  up  to; 

245 


The  Cavalier 

but  it  makes  me  smile  yet,  to  recall  how  jauntily  she 
discomfited  us  both.  She  triumphed  with  the  airy  ease 
of  a  king-bird  routing  a  crow  in  the  upper  blue.  Ca- 
mille  had  more  than  once  told  me  that  Cecile  was  wise 
beyond  the  hope  of  her  two  cousins  to  emulate  her; 
which  had  only  increased  my  admiration  for  Camille; 
yet  now  I  began  to  see  how  the  sisters  came  by  their 
belief.  In  the  present  discussion  she  was  easily  first 
among  the  four  of  us.  At  the  same  time  her  sensuous 
graces  also  took  unquestionable  preeminence;  city-bred 
though  she  was,  she  had  the  guise  of  belonging  to  the 
landscape,  or,  rather,  of  the  landscape's  belonging,  by 
some  fairy  prerogative,  to  her.  She  seemed  just  let 
loose  into  the  world,  yet  as  ready  and  swift  to  make 
right  use  of  it  as  any  humming-bird  let  into  a  garden ; 
as  untimorous  as  any  such,  and  as  elusive.  In  this  sul 
try  June  air  she  had  all  the  animation  both  of  mind  and 
of  frame  that  might  have  been  expected  of  her  on  a 
keen,  clear  winter  day.  Her  face  never  bore  the  same 
expression  at  the  beginning  and  middle,  or  at  either  of 
these  and  the  close,  of  any  of  her  speeches,  yet  every 
change  was  lovely,  the  sign  of  a  happy  play  of  feeling, 
and  proof  of  a  mercurial  intelligence.  No  report  of 
them  by  this  untrained  pen  would  fully  bear  me  out, 
and  the  best  tribute  I  can  offer  is  to  avoid  the  task. 

It  was  a  sweet  mercy  in  her  to  change  the  subject, 
and  tactful  to  change  it  to  Charlotte,  as  if  Charlotte 
were  quite  an  unrelated  theme.  The  cousins  vied  with 
each  other  ever  so  prettily  in  telling  how  beautiful  the 
patient  was  on  her  couch  of  enfeeblement  and  pain,  how 
her  former  loveliness  had  increased^  and  what  new  no- 

246 


Same  Book  and  Light-Head  Harry 

bility  it  had  taken  on.  That  any  such  problem  over 
hung  her  life  as  that  which  we  had  just  been  weighing, 
seemed  never  to  have  entered  their  thought,  and  if 
they  had  ever  conceived  of  a  passion  already  conscious 
between  Charlotte  and  Ferry,  they  veiled  the  fact  with 
charming  feminine  art. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  house  Harry  detained  me 
on  the  veranda  alone.  Camille  told  me  how  long  I 
might  tarry.  It  was  heaven  to  have  her  bit  in  my 
mouth,  and  I  found  it  hard  to  be  grum  even  when 
Harry  beat  with  his  good  hand  the  rhythm  of  "  Maiden 
passing  fair,  turn  away  thine  eyes." 

"  Dick,"  he  said,  suddenly  grave  as  he  walked  me 
down  the  veranda,  "  her  cousin  Cecile!  isn't  it  awful? 
Now  that  poor  girl's  gone  back  to  Ned's  bedside ;  back 
to  her  torture!  Why  do  they  let  her?  My  George! 
it's  merciless !  Has  her  aunt  no  eyes  ?  " 

"But,  Lieutenant,  you  don't  know  she  loves  him; 
there  are  signs,  I  admit;  but  proofs,  no.  She's  lost 
color,  and  her  curves  are  more  slender,  but,  my  good 
ness!  a  dozen  things  might  account  for  that." 

"  Dick  Smith," — my  questioner  worked  himself  up 
over  the  rail  and  sat  out  on  the  shelf  that  held  the 
bucket  of  drinking-water  and  its  gourd — "  do  you  im 
agine  she  didn't  know,  when  we  were  talking  about  that 
book,  that  she  was  arguing  against  the  union  of  Ned 
Ferry  and  Charlotte  Oliver  ?  Didn't  she  do  it  bravely ! 
Richard,  my  friend,  she  couldn't  have  done  it  if  she  had 
suspected  us  of  suspecting  her.  It's  a  bleeding  pity! 
And  yet  you  can't  side  with  her,  for  I  just  swear  Ned's 
got  to  have  Charlotte  Ol' — what?  No,  he  won't  over- 

247 


The  Cavalier 

hear  a  blank  word;  here's  his  window  shut,  right  here. 
He's  got  to  have  her,  I  say,  and  he's  got  to  have  her 
just  as  soon  as  the  two  of  'em  can  stand  up  together 
to  be  sworn  in!  Don't  you  say  so?  " 

I  replied  that  I  was  not  aware  of  any  one  who  did 
not  say  so. 

"  Well,  I  can  name  several!  I  don't  call  Scott  Ghol- 
son  anybody,  but  there's  Major  Harper — No,  I'm  not 
talking  too  loud,  Ned  isn't  hearing  a  word.  Major 
Harper's  so  hot  against  this  thing  that  he  brought  it 
up,  with  me,  yesterday  on  the  battlefield." 

"  Major  Harper  doesn't  really  know  her,"  I  softly  re 
marked. 

Harry  swore  with  military  energy.  "  I  told  him  he 
didn't,  and  he  fairly  snorted.  We  don't  know  her,  he 
says;  you  nor  I  nor  his  sister  nor  his  niece  nor  his 
daughters,  oh,  we  don't  know  her  at  all ;  and  neither  do 
we  know  Ned;  Ned  has  graceful  manners,  and  she's  a 
born  actress,  and  we're  simply  infatuated  by  their  ro 
mantic  situation.  Good  Lordy!  he  got  up  on  his 
Charleston  pride-of-family  like  a  circus-girl  on  stilts, 
and  '  Edgard  Ferry-Durand  has  got  a  great  public 
career  before  him,'  s's  he,  '  and  no  true  friend  will  let 
him  think  of  taking  a  wife  who  is  all  history  and  no 
antecedents,  a  blockade-runner,  a  spy,  and  the  brand- 
new  widow  of  a  blackguard  and  a  jayhawker  she  had 
run  away  from  practically  on  her  wedding-night.'  Hy 
Jo'!  the  way  he  went  on,  you'd  'a'  thought  he  was  al 
ready  Ned's  uncle-in-1' — "  The  speaker's  face  took  a 
sudden  distress — "Great  Caesar!"  He  pointed  up  to 
the  second-story  front  room  and  slipped  down  from  the 

248 


"Captain,  They've  Got  Us" 

shelf  just  as  Estelle  came  out  to  us  with  her  aunt's  mes 
sage  for  me  to  come  in. 

"  How's  the  fair  patient?  "  I  hurried  to  ask  as  the 
three  of  us  went. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Smith,  she's  actually  been  sitting  upn- 
in  the  twilight — at  the  open  window — while  Aunt 
Martha  and  I  smoothed  up  her  bed."  Harry  groaned. 

"  She's  still  very  weak,"  said  Aunt  Martha  when  we 
came  to  her;  "  the  moment  her  bed  was  made  up  she 
asked  to  lie  down  again." 

"  Yes,"  softly  exclaimed  Camille,  "  but,  oh,  aunt 
Martha,  with  such  courage  in  those  eyes! " 

"  Smith,"  privately  asked  the  agonized  Harry,  "  what 
would  you  do  if  you  were  in  my  place ;  go  and  cut  your 
throat  from  ear  to  ear?  " 

"  No,"  I  said,  as  black  as  an  executioner,  "  but  I 
wish  you'd  done  it  yesterday." 


LIII, 

"  CAPTAIN,  THEY'VE  GOT  us " 

MORE  days  slipped  by.  Neighbors  pressed  sweet 
favors  upon  us ;  calls,  joyful  rumors,  delicacies,  flowers. 
One  day  Major  Harper  paid  us  a  flying  visit,  got  kisses 
galore,  and  had  his  coat  sponged  and  his  buttons  re 
animated.  In  the  small  town  some  three  miles  north 
west  of  us  he  was  accumulating  a  great  lot  of  captured 
stuff.  On  another  day  came  General  Austin  and  stayed 
a  whole  hour.  Ferry  took  healing  delight  in  these 

249 


The  Cavalier 

visits,  asking  no  end  of  questions  about  the  movements 
afield,  and  about  the  personal  fortunes  of  everyone  he 
knew.  When  the  General  told  him  Ferry's  scouts  were 
doing  better  without  him  than  with  him — "  I  thought 
he  would  smile  himself  into  three  pieces,"  said  the 
General  at  the  supper-table. 

On  a  second  call  from  Major  Harper,  when  handed 
a  document  to  open  and  read,  he  went  through  it  care 
fully  twice,  and  then  dropping  it  on  the  coverlet  asked 
— "andQuinn?" 

"  Oh,  Quinn's  turn  will  come." 

"  Ah!  Major,  that  is  not  fair  to  Quinn!  "  said  Ferry. 
Yet  when  he  took  up  the  paper  again  he  gazed  on  it 
with  a  happy  gravity ;  it  made  him  a  captain.  "  By  the 
by,"  he  said,  "  that  Yankee  horse  that  Dick  Smith  capt 
ured  at  Sessions's ;  I'd  like  to  buy  that  horse  from  you, 
Major."  They  made  the  sale.  "And  there's  that 
captured  ambulance  still  here,  Major,  with  its  team  eat 
ing  their  heads  off." 

"  Yes,  Fm  going  to  take  that  away  with  me  to-day." 

This  meant  that  Charlotte's  negro  man  and  his  daugh 
ter,  her  maid,  had  come  with  her  spring-wagon,  and 
Harry  and  I  would  have  liked  the  Major  better  if  he 
had  smiled  at  this  point,  as  he  did  not.  Yet  he  was 
most  lovable;  sent  so  kind  a  message  up  to  Charlotte 
that  Harry  and  I  wondered;  and  received  back  from 
her  a  reply  so  gracious  that — since  we  could  not  won 
der — we  worshipped.  In  the  evening  of  that  day  Ferry 
and  Charlotte  were  transferred,  she  into  the  room  be 
hind  her,  and  he  upstairs  into  the  one  out  of  which  she 
was  taken.  That  night  a  slave  and  his  wife,  belonging 

250 


" Captain,  They've  Got  Us" 

to  the  place,  ran  away  to  the  enemy.  If  they  should 
tell  the  Yankees  Ned  Ferry  was  here—!  "  By  Jo'!  " 
said  Harry  Helm,  "  I'm  glad  I  didn't  cut  my  throat;  I 
told  that  darkey,  yesterday,  Ned's  name  was  O'Brien !  " 

Toward  the  close  of  that  day  came  tidings  of  the 
brigade's  splendid  work  at  a  steamboat-landing  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  how  they  had  stolen  in  by  night  be 
tween  two  great  bodies  of  the  enemy,  burned  a  vast 
store  of  military  supplies,  and  then  brilliantly  cut  their 
way  out;  yet  we  were  told  to  be  ready  to  withdraw 
into  Mississippi  again  as  soon  as  our  newly  made  cap 
tain  could  safely  be  moved.  Pooh !  what  of  that  ?  Lee 
was  on  his  way  into  Pennsylvania;  the  war  was  nearly 
over,  sang  the  Harper  girls,  and  we  were  the  winners! 
They  cheerily  saw  Helm  and  me,  next  morning,  ride 
southward  in  search  of  further  good  news.  At  a  cross 
roads  I  proposed  that  we  separate,  and  meet  there  again 
near  the  end  of  the  day.  He  turned  west;  I  went  an 
hour's  ride  farther  south  and  then  turned  west  my 
self. 

When  we  met  again  I  knew  that  he — while  he  did 
not  know  that  I — had  been  to  Gilmer's  plantation.  We 
wanted  to  see  if  the  Federals  had  left  a  grave  there. 
They  had  left  three,  and  a  young  girl  who  had  been  one 
of  the  dancers  told  me  she  had  seen  Oliver's  body  car 
ried  off  by  two  blue  troopers  who  growled  and  cursed 
because  they  had  been  sent  back  to  bury  it.  Neither 
Harry  nor  I  mentioned  the  subject  when  we  met  at  the 
cross-roads  again,  for  we  came  on  our  horses'  necks 
at  a  stretched  out  run;  the  Federals  were  rolling  up 
from  the  south  battalion  after  battalion,  hoping  to  find 


The  Cavalier 

Major  Harper's  store  of  supplies  feebly  guarded  and 
even  up  with  us  for  that  steamboat-landing  raid.  Pres 
ently  as  we  hurried  northward  we  began  to  hear,  off 
ahead  of  us  on  our  left,  the  faint  hot  give-and-take  of 
two  skirmish  lines.  We  came  into  the  homestead  grove 
at  a  constrained  trot  and  found  the  ladies  out  on  the 
veranda  in  liveliest  suspense  between  scepticism  and 
alarm. 

"  Yes,  they're  fighting,  now,  on  the  edge  of  town," 
we  said,  "  but  our  boys  will  keep  them  there."  Our 
host  and  hostess  moaned  their  unbelief.  "  However," 
added  Harry,  "  I'll  go  tell  the  old  man  to  hitch  up  the 
little  mules  and — " 

"  You  dawn't  need,"  said  Cecile,  "  'tis  done !  "  and 
Camille  confirmed  her  word,  while  the  planter  and  his 
wife  returned  to  the  kitchen  yard,  where  the  servants 
were  loading  the  smokehouse  meat  into  a  wagon  to 
hide  it  in  the  woods;  Miss  Harper  and  Estelle  went 
into  the  house,  summoned  by  Charlotte's  maid.  On 
Ferry's  chamber  floor  sounded  three  measured  thumps 
of  his  scabbarded  sword. 

"  Dick,  you  answer  that,"  exclaimed  Harry,  reining 
in  half  wheeled ;  "  but  keep  him  on  his  back,  if  you  have 
to  hold  him  down ! "  He  spurred  away  to  learn 
whether  we  had  better  stay  or  fly.  I  threw  my  rein  to 
Camille  and  flew  up  the  hall  stairs. 

Ferry  lay  in  bed  with  three  pillows  behind  him  and 
his  sheathed  sword  across  his  lap.  "Good-evening, 
Richard,"  he  said,  "  you  are  returned  just  in  time;  will 
you  please  hand  me  my  two  pistol'  from  yonder? — 
thank  you."  He  laid  one  beside  each  thigh.  "  Now 


"Captain,  They've  Got  Us" 

please  turn  the  head  of  my  bed  a  little  bit,  to  face  the 
door — thank  you ;  and  now,  good-bye.  You  hear  those 
footstep'  there  in  the  room  behind?  she  is  dressing  to 
go;  the  other  ladies  they  are  helping  her.  Richard,  I 
place  them  in  your  charge;  have  them  all  ready  to  get 
into  her  wagon  at  a  moment's  notice,  with  you  on  your 
horse — and  you  better  take  that  Jewett  horse,  too;  he 
came  to-day." 

I  hesitated,  but  a  single  flash  of  authority  from  his 
eye  was  enough  and  I  had  passed  half-way  to  the  door, 
when,  through  the  window  over  the  front  veranda,  I 
saw  a  small  body  of  horsemen  trotting  up  through  the 
grove.  The  dusk  of  the  room  hid  me,  but  there  was 
no  mistaking  them.  "  Too  late,  Captain,"  I  said, 
"  they've  got  us." 

"  How  many  do  you  see?  " 

"  About  sixteen.  Our  two  horses  will  be  Yankees 
again  to-morrow." 

"  Ah!  not  certainly.     Where  is  your  carbine?  " 

"Just  outside  this  door.  They  know  you're  here, 
Captain,  they're  surrounding  the  house."  As  I  reached 
toward  the  door  I  heard  his  sword  crawl  out,  the  door 
knob  clicked  without  my  touching  it,  the  door  swung 
and  closed  again,  and  Charlotte  Oliver  was  with  us. 
The  light  of  the  western  window  shone  full  upon  her; 
she  was  in  the  same  dress,  hat  and  all,  in  which  I  had 
seen  her  the  night  we  rode  together  alone.  Though 
wasted  and  pale,  she  betrayed  a  flush  on  either  cheek 
and  a  smile  that  mated  with  the  sweet  earnest  of  her 
eyes.  She  tendered  me  my  carbine,  patted  my  hand 
caressingly,  and  glided  onward  to  Ferry's  bedside. 

253 


The  Cavalier 

With  my  back  to  them  and  my  ear  to  the  door  I  heark 
ened  outward.  In  the  front  doorway  below  sounded 
the  jingling  tread  of  cavalry-boots  and  a  clank  of  sabres. 


LIV 

THE  FIGHT  IN  THE  DOORWAY 

CHARLOTTE'S  whisper  came  to  me:  "Richard!" 
Standing  by  Ferry's  pillow  she  spoke  for  him.  "  If  they 
start  upstairs  come  and  stand  like  me,  on  the  other 
side." 

I  nodded  and  slyly  opened  the  door  enough  to  pass 
half-way  out.  Some  man  was  parleying  with  Miss 
Harper.  "  Now,  madam,  you  know  you  haven't  locked 
up  your  parlor  to  maintain  an  abstract  right;  you've 
locked  it  up  because  you've  got  the  man  in  there  that 
I've  come  for." 

"  Whom  have  you  come  for,  sir?  " 

"  Lieutenant  O'Brien,  of  the  rebel  army.  Shall  I  or 
der  this  man  to  kick  that  door  in?  Answer  quickly." 

"  Sir,  there  is  no  Lieutenant  O'Brien  in  there,  nor 
elsewhere  in  this  house ;  there  never  has  been." 

"  Stand  aside,  madam." 

"  Stop,  sir!  I  command  you!  There  is  no  Lieuten 
ant  of  any  name  on  this  place!  " 

"  Oh,  yes  there  is ;  he  goes  by  various  names,  but 
one  of  them  is  Ned  Ferry.  Sergeant,  we'll  kick  to 
gether  ;  now !  " — Bang ! 

I  leaned  back  into  the  room  to  say  "  It's  all  right ! 
Oh,  but  that  sweet  woman's  a  'coon !  Let  them  batter  1 " 

254 


The  Fight  in  the  Doorway 

As  I  thrust  my  head  out  again  Miss  Harper  was  ex 
claiming  "Oh,  sirs,  don't  do  that !  "—Bang !— "  For 
the  honor  of  your  calling  and  your  flag — "  Bang ! 

"  There's  no  Lieutenant  in  there."    Bang! 

"  Corporal,  go  find  an  axe  or  something." 

"  Oh,  you  need  not,  sirs,  I'll  unlock  the  door/* 

"  Well,  be  quick  about  it,  and  then  stand  clear ;  we 
don't  want  any  woman  hurt."  The  key  rattled  at  the 
keyhole  and  then  dropped  to  the  floor.  "  You  did 
that  by  intention !  Give  me  that  key !  "  He  tried  the 
lock.  "  We've  jammed  it,  corporal,  but  another  good 
kick  will  fetch  it ;  now !  " — Bang ! — crash ! — open  flew 
the  door. 

"  Well,  I  will  be  damned !  "  said  the  officer. 

"  Sir,"  said  Miss  Harper,  "  you  give  me  no  occa 
sion  to  doubt  it."  She  followed  the  men  upstairs. 
"  Estelle,  go  back  to  your  sister  and  cousin ;  and  if 
you,  my  dear," — to  our  hostess — "  will  kindly  go  also, 
and  stay  with  them — " 

I  closed  the  door.  It  had  no  key,  but  there  was  a 
small  catch  to  the  knob  and  I  turned  it  on  while  the 
men  were  looking  into  the  adjacent  rooms.  When  they 
reached  ours  Miss  Harper  was  again  at  their  front. 
Inside,  the  three  of  us  silently  noted  our  strategic  ad 
vantages:  we  were  in  the  darkest  part  of  the  room, 
the  bed's  covering  was  a  dull  red,  Ferry  had  on  his 
shirt  of  black  silk,  the  white  pillows  were  hidden  at  his 
back,  Charlotte  and  I  were  darkly  clad,  the  light  from 
our  west  window  would  be  in  our  assailants'  faces  as 
they  entered,  and  they  would  be  silhouetted  against  a 
similar  light  from  the  hall's  front.  We  noiselessly 

255 


The  Cavalier 

cocked  our  weapons  and  Charlotte  and  I  each  sank  to 
one  knee.  "  The  door  is  very  thin,"  murmured  Ferry, 
"  we  can  fire  before  they  enter ;  they  will  get,  anyhow, 
our  smoke,  and  if  they  fire  as  they  rush  in  we  can  aim 
under  their  flash." 

It  was  only  then  that  I  observed  that  Charlotte  was 
armed.  But  the  fact  made  her  seem  only  the  more  a 
true  woman,  since  I  knew  that  only  for  her  honor  or 
his  life  would  she  ever  take  deadly  aim.  Her  weapon 
was  the  slender  revolver  she  had  carried  ever  since 
the  day  which  had  made  her  Charlotte  Oliver,  the  thing 
without  which  she  never  could  have  reached  this  hour 
of  blissful  extremity. 

"  In  here  there  is  a  lady,  ill,"  we  heard  Miss  Harper 
say. 

"Is  she  alone?" 

Ferry  prompted  in  a  whisper,  the  three  of  us  cried 
"  Yes ! "  and  he  added  "  Pass  one  side  from  the  door, 
Miss  Harper,  we  are  going  to  shoot  through  it." 

"  Hello,  in  there !  Lieutenant  Ferry,  of  Ferry's 
scouts," — 

"  Captain  Ferry,"  retorted  Miss  Harper,  and  I 
echoed  the  amendment. 

"  Damn  the  difference ;  I  give  you  one  half-minute, 
Captain  Ferry,  to  say  you  surrender!  If  you  weren't 
wounded  I  wouldn't  give  you  that.  Corporal,  go  get 
a  log  out  of  that  fireplace  downstairs." 

"  Oh,  shame !  "  wailed  Miss  Harper,  half-way  down 
the  hall. 

"  Captain,"  called  Ferry,  "  I  give  you  one  quarter- 
minute  to  get  away  from  that  door."  He  whispered  to 


The  Fight  in  the  Doorway 

Charlotte,  pointing  to  a  panel  of  it  higher  than  any 
one's  head. 

"  Oh,  sirs,"  we  again  heard  Miss  Harper  cry,  "  with 
hold!  Captain  Ferry,  they  have  called  in  four  more 
men !  "  We  heard  the  four  downstairs  coming  at  a 
run.  "  Oh,  sir—" 

"  Go  away,  madam !  "  bellowed  the  officer  as  his 
men  thundered  into  the  upper  hall.  "  Now,  Captain 
Ferry,  there  are  six  of  us  here  and  three  under  each 
of  your  windows.  Do  you — ?" 

"  Oh,  sir,  the  lady !  the  sick  lady !  " 

"  That's  his  look-out,  madam.  If  the  sick  lady  isn't 
Charlotte  Oli'— " 

"  And  if  she  is  ?  "  called  Ferry,  depressing  Charlotte's 
weapon  to  an  aim  barely  breast  high. 

"  Then  throwing  away  your  life  won't  save  hers ! 
Do  you  surren' — ?  " 

Ferry  made  a  quick  gesture  for  her  to  shoot  low,  but 
she  solemnly  shook  her  head  and  fired  through  the  top 
of  the  uppermost  panel,  and  the  assault  came. 

The  log  burst  the  door  in  at  a  blow,  Ferry  and  I 
fired,  and  our  foes  sprang  in.  Certainly  they  were 
brave ;  the  doorway  let  them  in  only  by  twos,  and  the 
fire-log,  falling  under  foot,  became  a  stumbling-block; 
yet  in  an  instant  the  room  was  ringing  and  roaring 
with  the  fray  and  benighted  with  its  smoke.  Their 
first  ball  bit  the  top  of  my  shoulder  and  buried  itself 
in  the  wall — no,  not  their  first,  but  the  first  save  one; 
for  the  bureau  mirror  stood  in  dim  shade,  and  the 
Federal  leader  made  the  easy  mistake  of  firing  right 
into  it.  The  error  sealed  his  fate;  Ferry  fired  under 

257 


The  Cavalier 

his  flash  and  sent  him  reeling  into  the  arms  of  his  fol 
lowers.  They  replied  hotly  but  blindly,  and  in  a  mo 
ment  the  room  was  void  of  assailants.  Ferry  started 
to  spring  from  the  bed,  but  Charlotte  threw  her  arms 
about  him,  and  as  she  pressed  her  head  hard  down  on 
his  breast  I  could  not  help  but  hear  "  No,  my  treasure, 
my  heart's  whole  treasure,  no ! " 


LV 

RESCUE  AND  RETREAT 

I  SPRANG  for  the  door,  but  the  fire-log  sent  me 
sprawling  with  my  shoulder  on  the  threshold.  As  I 
went  down  I  heard  in  the  same  breath  the  wounded 
officer  wailing  "  Go  back !  go  in !  there  are  only  four 
of  them !  don't  leave  one  alive !  "  and  Miss  Harper  all 
but  screaming  "  Our  men !  our  men !  God  be  praised, 
our  men  are  coming,  they  are  here !  Fly  spoilers,  for 
your  lives,  fly !  " 

And  it  was  true.  Their  hoofs  rumbled,  their  car 
bines  banged,  and  their  charge  struck  three  sides  of 
the  house  at  once.  Rising  only  to  my  elbows, — and 
how  I  did  that  much,  stiffened  with  my  wound,  the 
doctors  will  have  to  explain, — I  laid  my  cheek  to  my 
rifle,  and  the  light  of  two  windows  fell  upon  my  gun- 
sights.  Every  blue-coat  in  the  hall  was  between  me 
and  its  rear  window,  but  one  besides  the  officer  was 
wounded,  and  with  these  two  three  others  were  busy; 
only  the  one  remaining  man  saw  me.  Twice  he  levelled 

258 


Rescue  and  Retreat 

his  revolver,  and  twice  I  had  almost  lined  my  sights 
on  him,  but  twice  Miss  Harper  unaware  came  between 
us.  A  third  time  he  aimed,  fired  and  missed.  I  am 
glad  he  fired  first,  for  our  two  shots  almost  made  one 
report,  and  he  plunged  forward  exactly  as  I  had  done 
over  the  fire-log,  except  that  he  reached  the  floor  dead. 

Thereupon  came  more  things  at  once  than  can  be 
told :  Miss  Harper's  outcry  of  horror  and  pity ;  Char 
lotte's  cry  from  the  bedside — "Richard!  Richard!" 
a  rush  of  feet  and  shouts  of  rage  in  the  hall  below ;  and 
my  leap  to  the  head  of  the  stairs,  shouting  to  half  a 
dozen  gray- jackets  "  Two  men,  no  more !  two  men  to 
guard  prisoners,  no  more!  go  back,  all  but  you  two! 
go  back !  " 

A  sabreless  officer  with  a  bandaged  hand  flew  up  the 
stair  and  into  my  face.  It  was  Helm.  "  The  ladies ! 
Smith,  good  God !  Smith,  where  are  the  girls  ?  " 

"  In  the  smokehouse,"  cried  Miss  Harper  from  her 
knees  beside  the  prostrate  Federal  officer ;  "  go  bring 
them ! — Richard,  Charlotte  is  calling  you !  " 

I  ran  to  Ferry's  door ;  Charlotte  was  leaning  busily 
over  his  bared  chest,  while  he,  still  holding  a  revolver 
in  his  right  hand,  caressed  her  arm  with  his  left. 
"  Dick,  his  wound  has  opened  again,  but  we  must  get 
him  away  at  once  anyhow.  Isn't  my  wagon  still  here  ? 
— oh,  thank  God !  there  it  comes  now,  I  hear  it  in  the 
back  yard !  " 

A  Confederate  waiting  on  Miss  Harper  with  basin 
and  towels  barely  dodged  me  as  I  sprang  to  the  far 
end  of  the  hall  and  shouted  down  into  the  yard  for 
Harry.  The  little  mules,  true  enough,  were  just  rat- 

259 


The  Cavalier 

tling  round  a  half  turn  at  the  lower  hall's  back 
door,  having  been  in  hiding  behind  the  stables.  A 
score  or  so  of  cavalry  were  boisterously  hurrying  off 
across  the  yard  with  a  few  captured  horses  and  prison 
ers,  and  I  had  to  call  the  Lieutenant  angrily  a  second 
time,  to  make  him  hear  me  amid  their  din  and  a  happy 
confusion  which  he  was  helping  to  keep  up  in  a  fairer 
group.  For  here  were  all  the  missing  feminine  mem 
bers  of  the  household,  white  and  colored,  and  Harry 
was  clamorous  with  joy,  compassion  and  applause, 
while  Camille  and  Cecile,  pink  with  weeping,  stepped 
out  across  the  high  doorsill  of  the  smokehouse,  lead 
ing  Ned  Ferry's  horse  and  mine. 

However,  there  was  not  the  urgency  for  instant 
flight  that  Charlotte  had  thought  there  was ;  night  fell ; 
a  whole  regiment  of  our  mounted  infantry  came  si 
lently  up  from  the  rear  of  the  plantation  and  bivouacked 
without  lights  behind  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  worm- 
fence;  our  two  wounded  and  three  unharmed  prison 
ers,  or  Miss  Harper's,  I  should  say,  for  it  was  in  re 
sponse  to  her  entreaties  that  the  latter  had  thrown 
down  their  arms,  were  taken  away;  the  dead  man 
was  borne  out;  lights  glowed  in  every  room,  the  ser 
vants  returned  to  their  tasks,  a  maddening  fragrance 
came  from  the  kitchen,  and  the  three  nieces  flitted 
everywhere  in  their  benign  activities,  never  discovering 
the  hurt  on  my  shoulder  until  everything  else  on  earth 
had  been  discovered,  and  then — "  Oh,  Richard,  Rich 
ard  !  "  from  Estelle,  with  "  Reach-hard,  Reach-hard !  " 
from  C6cile,  and  "  Mr.  Smith !  "  from  Camille,  as  they 
bathed  and  bound  it. 

260 


Rescue  and  Retreat 

At  length  a  surgeon  arrived,  gave  a  cheering  opin 
ion  of  Ferry  and  of  Charlotte,  and  scolded  Harry 
savagely  for  the  really  bad  condition  of  his  hand. 
Then  sounds  grew  few  and  faint,  our  lights  went  out, 
we  lay  down  fully  dressed,  and  nearly  all  of  us,  for 
a  while,  slept. 

But  about  two  in  the  morning  Harry  awakened  me, 
murmuring  "  Reach-hard !  Reach-hard  !  come  1  our 
sick-train's  moving.  Ssh !  General  Austin's  asleep  in 
the  next  room !  "  I  asked  where  Ferry  was.  "  Already 
started,"  he  whispered,  "  — in  the  General's  own  ambu 
lance,  with  Charlotte  Oliver  in  hers,  on  a  mattress,  like 
Ned,  and  the  four  Harpers  in  theirs."  While  we  stole 
downstairs  he  murmured  on  "  Our  brigade's  come  up 
and  General  Austin  will  attack  at  daylight  with  this 
house  as  his  headquarters." 

As  we  mounted  I  asked  whither  we  were  bound. 
"  Tangipahoa,"  he  said ;  "  then  by  railroad  to  Brook- 
haven,  and  then  out  to  Squire  Wall's." 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn  our  slow  caravan  caught 
the  distant  notes  of  the  battle  opening  behind  us. 
"  That's  Fisher's  battery !  "  joyously  cried  the  aide-de 
camp  as  we  paused  and  hearkened  back.  "  Well,  thank 
the  Lord,  this  time  nobody's  got  to  go  back  for  her 
doll ;  she's  got  it  with  her ;  I  saw  her,  just  now,  comb 
ing  its  hair."  We  descended  into  a  woody  hollow,  the 
sounds  of  human  strife  died  away,  and  field  and  forest 
offered  us  only  beauty,  fragrance,  peace,  and  the  love- 
songs  of  birds. 


261 


The  Cavalier 
LVI 

HOTEL  DES  INVALIDES 

A  SHATTERED  crew  we  were  when  in  the  forenoon 
of  the  third  day  we  reached  our  goal.  Harry's  hand 
was  giving  him  less  trouble,  but  both  my  small  wounds 
were  misbehaving  as  stoutly  as  their  limitations  would 
allow ;  my  aches  were  cruel  and  incessant,  my  side  was 
swollen  and  my  shoulder  hot.  Miss  Harper  was 
"  really  ill,"  said  the  surgeon,  but  for  whose  coming 
with  us  we  should  hardly  have  brought  our  whole 
number  through  alive.  Both  Ferry  and  Charlotte  were 
in  a  critical  condition.  "  Take  you  in !  "  said  our  tear 
fully  smiling  Mrs.  Wall ;  "  why,  we'd  take  yo'  whole 
crowd  in  ef  we  had  to  go  out  and  bunk  undeh  the 
trees  owse'v's!  .  .  .  Oh,  Mr.  Smith,  you  po' 
chi — ild!  .  .  .  Oh,  my  Lawd!  is  this  Lieutenant 
Do-wrong!  Good  Lawd,  good  Lawd!  I  think  this 
waugh's  gone  on  now  jess  long  enough ! " 

In  the  house  she  gave  the  younger  Harpers  a  second 
kiss  all  round.  "  You  po'  dears,  yo're  hcro-mes,  now, 
and  hencefo'th  fo'evehmo' !  "  Harry  and  I  agreed  they 
were;  it  was  one  of  the  .few  points  on  which  we 
thought  alike.  We  even  agreed  that  Estelle's  grasp  of 
earthly  realities  was  not  so  feeble  as  we  had  thought 
it. 

"  Fact  is,"  I  said  to  him,  on  our  first  day  at  the 
Walls',  as  he  was  leaving  the  soldiers'  room,  where  I 
sat  under  the  surgeon's  inspection,  "  you  were  totally 
mistaken  about  her." 

26? 


Hotel  des  Invalides 

"  Yes,  I  was,"  he  replied ;  "  she's  got  more  sense 
in  a  minute  than  Camille's  got  in  a  week,"  and  shut 
the  door  between  us. 

My  blood  leaped  with  rage,  yet  I  sat  perfectly  calm, 
while  the  surgeon  laughed  like  a  hyena.  "  As  soon  as 
you  can  let  me  go,  Doctor,"  I  frigidly  said,  "  I  shall 
look  up  the  Lieutenant.  I  consider  that  remark  ungen- 
tlemanly,  and  his  method  of  making  it  as  worthy  only 
of  a  coward." 

The  surgeon  cackled  again.  "  If  that  man,"  I  dis 
passionately  resumed,  "  was  not  perfectly  sure  that 
I  am  too  honorable  a  gentleman  to  give  Miss  Camille 
the  faintest  hint  of  what  he  has  said,  sooner  than  say 
it  he  would  go  out  and  cut  his  throat  from  ear  to 
ear." 

"  Well !  you  oughtn't  to  get  mad  at  him  for  think 
ing  you  a  gentleman." 

"  He  sha'n't  take  a  low  advantage  of  my  being  one. 
You  think  he's  open  and  blunt — he's  as  sly  as  a  mink. 
He  praises  the  older  sister  at  the  younger's  expense, 
when  it's  the  younger  one  that  he's  so  everlastingly 
stuck  on  that  he  can't  behave  like  a  gentleman  to  any 
man  to  whom  she  shows  the  slightest  preference."  We 
heard  a  coming  step,  but  I  talked  on :  "  Sense !  poor 
simpleton !  he  knows  he  hasn't  got  " — the  door  opened 
and  Harry  stepped  partly  in,  but  I  only  raised  my 
voice, — "  hasn't  got  as  much  brains  in  his  whole  head 
as  there  is  in  one  of  her  tracks." 

With  something  between  a  sob,  a  sputter  and  a 
shriek  he  shut  himself  out  again.  Harry  was  never 
deep  but  in  a  shallow  way,  and  never  shallow  without 

263 


The  Cavalier 

a  certain  treacherous  depth.  When  Ned  Ferry  the 
next  day  summoned  me  to  his  bedside  I  went  with  a 
choking  throat,  not  doubting  I  was  to  give  account 
of  this  matter, — until  I  saw  the  kindness  of  his  pallid 
face.  Then  my  silly  heart  rose  as  much  too  high  as 
it  had  just  been  too  low  and  I  thought  "  Charlotte  has 
surrendered !  "  All  he  wanted  was  to  make  me  his 
scribe.  But  when  we  were  done  he  softly  asked,  "  That 
business  of  yours  we  talked  about  on  the  Plank-road 
— it  looks  any  better  ?  " 

I  bit  my  lip,  turned  away  and  shook  my  head. 
"  Well,  any-how"  he  said,  "  I  am  told  there  is  no 
body  in  your  way." 

I  faced  him  sharply— "  Who  told  you  that?"  and 
felt  sure  he  would  name  the  tricky  aide-de-camp.  But 
he  pointed  to  the  room  overhead,  which  again,  as  in 
the  other  house,  was  Charlotte's.  I  blushed  consciously 
with  gratitude.  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  it  makes  me  happy 
to  see  you  beginning  again  to  get  well." 

Within  the  same  hour  I  met  unexpectedly  two  other 
persons.  First,  Harry  Helm;  who,  before  I  could 
speak,  was  deluging  me  with  words,  telling  me  for  the 
twentieth  time  how,  on  that  evening  of  the  indoor 
fight,  coming  with  a  platoon  of  Mississippians  which 
he  had  procured  merely  as  a  guard,  he  was  within  a 
hundred  yards  of  the  house  before  our  shots  in  the 
bedroom  told  him  he  was  riding  to  a  rescue.  Then 
suddenly  he  began  to  assure  me  that  in  what  he  had 
said  about  the  two  sisters  he  had  sought  only  to  mis 
lead  the  surgeon,  who,  he  declared,  was  more  utterly 
dead-gone  on  Camille  than  both  of  us  put  together. 

264 


Hotel  des  Invalides 

We  parted,  and  within  the  next  five  minutes  I  con 
fronted  the  maiden  herself. 

She  came  from  upstairs  with  a  mixed  armful  of 
papers,  books  and  sewing,  said  she  had  been  with 
Charlotte,  and  said  no  more,  only  made  a  mysterious 
mouth.  I  inquired  how  Charlotte  was.  She  shrugged, 
sank  into  a  seat  on  the  gallery,  let  her  arm-load  into 
her  lap,  and  replied,  "  Ah !  she  lies  up  there  and  smiles 
and  smiles,  and  calls  us  pet  names,  and  says  she's  per 
fectly  contented,  and  then  cannot  drop  half  asleep 
without  looking  as  though  she  were  pressing  a  knife 
into  her  own  heart.  Oh,  Dick,  what  is  the  matter  with 
her?" 

"  What  do  you  think,— -Camille?  " 

"  Oh — I — I'm  afraid  to  say  it — even  to  Estelle,  or 
aunt  Martha,  or — " 

"  Say  it  to  me,"  I  murmured. 

"  Oh,  if  I  could  only  trust  you ! "  she  said,  shaking 
her  head  sadly  and  trying  to  lift  her  arm's  burden 
again  without  taking  her  eyes  from  mine.  It  went  to 
her  feet  in  a  landslide,  and  out  of  one  of  the  books 
fluttered  three  stems  of  sweet-pea  each  bearing  two 
mated  blossoms.  I  knew  them  in  an  instant,  and  in 
the  next  I  had  them.  She  would  not  let  me  pile  the 
fallen  freight  anywhere  but  into  her  arm  again,  nor 
recover  her  eye  before  she  was  fully  re-laden.  Then 
she  set  her  lips  freezingly  and  said  "  Now  give  me  back 
my  flowers." 

I  meekly  gave  them  and  she  turned  to  go  into  the 
house ;  her  head  gradually  sank  forward  as  she  went, 
and  her  unparagoned  ear  and  neck  flushed  to  a  burn- 

265 


The  Cavalier 

ing  red.  On  the  threshold,  by  some  miscalculation,  her 
burdened  arm  struck  the  jamb,  and  the  whole  load  fell 
again.  I  sprang  and  began  to  gather  the  stuff  into  a 
chair,  but  she  walked  straight  on  as  though  nothing 
had  occurred,  and  shut  the  nearest  door  behind  her. 

In  those  days  used  to  come  out  to  see  us  Gregory, 
in  his  long-skirted  black  coat  and  full  civilian  dress; 
of  whom  I  have  told  a  separate  history  elsewhere. 
Very  pointed  was  Camille's  neglect  of  both  Harry  and 
me,  to  make  herself  lovely  to  the  dark  and  diffident 
new-comer,  while  Estelle  positively  pursued  me  with 
compensatory  sweetness;  and  Gregory,  whenever  he 
and  I  were  alone  together,  labored  to  reassure  me  of 
his  harmlessness  by  expatiating  exclusively  upon  the 
charms  of  Cecile.  She  seemed  to  him  like  a  guardian 
angel  of  Ferry  and  Charlotte,  while  yet  everything  she 
said  or  did  was  wholly  free  from  that  quality  of  other- 
worldliness  which  was  beautiful  in  Estelle,  but  which 
would  not  have  endured  repetition  in  the  sister  or  the 
cousin.  There  Harry  and  I,  also,  once  more  agreed. 
Cecile  never  allowed  herself  to  reflect  a  spirit  of  saint- 
liness,  or  even  of  sacrifice,  but  only  of  maidenly  wis 
dom  and  sweet  philosophy. 

"  If  it  weren't  for  Charlotte,"  whispered  the  Lieu 
tenant,  "  I  could  swear  she  was  created  for  Ned 
Ferry ! "  and  when  I  shook  my  head  he,  too,  declared 
"  No,  no !  if  ever  a  match  was  made  on  high  Charlotte 
was  made  for  him  and  he  for  Charlotte ;  but,  oh,  Lord, 
Lord !  Reach-hard  Thorndyke  Smith,  how  is  this  thing 
going  to  end  ?  " 

That  was  the  problem  in  the  mind  of  every  looker 
266 


Hotel  des  Invalides 

on,  and  the  lookers-on  were  legion;  the  whole  wide 
neighborhood  came  to  see  us.  Gregory  and  others  out 
stayed  their  furloughs;  the  surgeon  lingered  shame 
lessly.  Of  course,  there  were  three  girls  besides  Char 
lotte,  and  it  was  pure  lying — as  I  told  Helm — for  some 
of  those  fellows  to  pretend  that  Captain  Ferry's  prob 
lem  was  all  they  stayed  for;  and  yet  it  was  the  one 
heart-problem  which  was  everybody's,  and  we  were 
all  in  one  fever  to  see  forthwith  a  conclusion  which 
"  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  "  re 
quired  should  not  come  for  months. 

"  Pooh !  "  said  Harry,  " '  a  decent  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  mankind '  requires  just  the  reverse !  "  and 
the  surgeon  avowed  that  it  was  required  by  a  decent 
respect  to  her  powers  of  endurance ;  he  was  every  day 
afraid  her  slow  improvement  would  stop  and  she  would 
begin  to  sink.  He  admitted  the  event  could  wait,  but 
he  wished  to  gracious  we  could  have  her  decision. 

I  said  suppose  it  should  be  negative.  "  Oh,  it 
won't !  "  exclaimed  both  he  and  Harry.  "  When  it 
comes  to  the  very  point — " 

Gregory's  approach  interrupted  us,  but  I  remembered 
a  trait  in  Charlotte  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  gave 
myself  the  hope  that  their  prediction  might  prove  well 
founded. 


267 


The  Cavalier 
LVII 

A  YES  AND  A  NO 

BUT  now  Charlotte's  recovery  took  on  new  speed. 
Maybe  her  new  brightness  meant  only  that  her  heart 
was  learning  to  bear  its  load ;  but  we  hoped  that  was 
just  what  it  was  unlearning,  as  she  and  Ferry  sat  at 
chess  on  the  gallery  in  the  afternoons. 

One  night  the  fellows  gave  a  dance  in  Brookhaven. 
We  went  in  two  wagons  and  by  the  light  of  mounted 
torch-bearers,  and  Charlotte  and  Ferry  stood  at  the 
dooryard  gate  and  sent  after  us  their  mirthful  warn 
ings  and  good-byes.  It  set  some  of  us  a-hoping — to 
see  them  there — a  dooryard  gate  means  so  much.  We 
fairly  prayed  he  might  compel  her  decicion  before  she 
should  turn  to  re-enter  the  house.  But  the  following 
morning  it  was  evident  we  had  prayed  in  vain. 

On  the  next  afternoon  but  one  we  heard  that  a  great 
column  of  our  soldiers  was  approaching  on  the  nearest 
highway,  bound  up  the  railroad  to  Joe  Johnston's  army 
from  the  region  about  Port  Hudson,  and  Charlotte 
instantly  proposed  that  our  ladies  deal  out  food  and 
drink  from  some  shady  spot  on  the  roadside.  It  was 
one  of  those  southern  summer  days  when  it  verily 
seems  hotter  in  the  shade  than  in  the  sun — unless  you 
are  in  the  sun.  The  force  was  wholly  artillery  and  in 
fantry,  the  last  Confederate  infantry  that  region  ever 
saw  in  column  under  arms;  poor,  limping,  brown- 
faced,  bloody-footed  boys!  their  weapons  were  the 
only  clean  things,  the  only  whole  things,  about  them 

268 


A  Yes  and  a  No 

except  their  unbroken  spirit ;  and  when  the  very  fore 
most  command  chanced  to  be  one  which  the  Harpers 
had  seen  in  New  Orleans  the  day  it  left  there  march 
ing  in  faultless  platoons  and  spotless  equipments 
through  the  crowds  that  roared  acclaim  and  farewell, 
our  dear  ladies,  for  one  weak  moment,  wept. 

"  Here  come  the  real  heroes,  Harry,"  said  my  crip 
pled  leader ;  "  we  are  dandies  and  toy-soldiers,  by  the 
side  of  those  infantry  boys,  Doctor,  we  cavalry  fel 
lows  ; "  and  we  cavalry  fellows  would  have  hid  if  we 
honorably  could.  Yet  hardly  had  he  spoken  when  he 
and  a  passing  field-officer  cried  out  in  mutual  recogni 
tion,  and  from  that  time  until  the  rear-guard  was  clear 
gone  by  we  received  what  the  newspapers  call  "  a  con 
tinuous  ovation."  A  group  of  brigade  officers  went 
back  with  us  to  Squire  Wall's,  to  supper,  and  you  could 
see  by  the  worship  they  paid  Charlotte  that  they  knew 
her  story.  Her  strength  was  far  overtaxed,  and  the 
moment  the  last  fond  straggler  had  gone  we  came  in 
out  of  the  splendid  moonlight. 

"  Now,  Charlotte,  my  dear,"  began  Miss  Harper, 
"  you  are  too  terribly  tired  to — why,  where  is  Char 
lotte  ;  did  she  not  come  in  with  us  from  the — gate  ?  " 

Ferry,  too,  was  missing.  Mrs.  Wall  made  eyes  at 
the  inquirer,  Estelle  and  Cecile  began  to  speak  but 
deferred  to  each  other,  and  Camille,  putting  on  a  deadly 
exhaustion,  whined  as  she  tottered  to  her  smiling  guar 
dian,  "  Kiss  your  sweet  baby  good-night,  auntie  dear, 
and  " — with  a  hand  reached  out  to  Estelle — "  make 
Naughty  come,  too."  She  turned  to  say  good-night  to 
Cecile  but  spoiled  her  kiss  with  an  unintended  laugh. 

269 


The  Cavalier 

The  surgeon,  Harry  and  I  bowed  from  the  room  and 
stepped  out  to  the  water-bucket  and  gourd.  From 
there  we  could  see  the  missing  two,  lingering  at  the 
dooryard  gate,  in  the  bright  moonlight.  As  we  fin 
ished  drinking,  "  Gentlemen,"  murmured  Harry,  "  I 
fear  our  position  is  too  exposed  to  be  tenable." 

The  surgeon  started  upstairs.  "  I'll  join  you  di* 
rectly,  Doctor,"  Harry  said,  and  in  a  lower  voice  added 
"  Smith  and  I  will  just  lounge  in  and  out  of  the  hall 
"*iere  to  sort  o'  show  nobody  needn't  be  in  any  hurry, 
ion't  you  see  ?  " 

But  the  other  jerked  his  thumb  toward  the  half- 
closed  parlor,  where  Miss  Harper  and  Cecile  sat  close 
to  each  other  absorbed  in  some  matter  of  the  tenderest 
privacy.  "  They'll  attend  to  that,"  he  muttered ;  "  come 
on  to  bed  and  mind  your  own  business." 

Harry  huffed  absurdly.  "  You  go  mind  yours,"  he 
retorted,  and  then  more  generously  added,  "  we'll  be 
with  you  in  a  minute."  The  surgeon  went,  and  the 
aide-de-camp,  as  we  began  to  pace  the  hall,  fairly  took 
my  breath  by  remarking  without  a  hint  of  self-censure, 
"  Damn  a  frivolous  man ! "  Then  irrelatively  he 
added,  "  Those  two  out  at  that  gate — this  is  a  matter 
of  life  and  death  with  them ;  "  and  when  I  would  have 
qualified  the  declaration,  he  broke  in  upon  me — "  Right, 
Dick,  you're  right,  it  is  worse;  it's  a  choice  between 
true  life  and  death-in-life;  whether  they'll  make  life's 
long  march  in  sunshine  together  or  in  darkness  apart." 

Well,  of  course,  it  was  no  such  simple  question,  and 
never  could  be  while  life  held  so  many  values  more 
Splendid  than  any  wilfulness  could  win.  There  lay  the 

270 


A  Yes  and  a  No 

whole  of  Charlotte's  real  difficulty — for  she  had  made 
it  all  hers.  But  when  I  tried  in  some  awkward  way 
to  say  this  Harry  cut  me  short.  "  Oh,  Dick,  I — eh — 
you  bother  me!  I  want  to  tell  you  something  and  if 
I  don't  hurry  I  can't.  Something's  happened  to  me, 
old  fellow,  something  that's  sobered  me  more  than  I 
ever  would  'a'  thought  anything  could.  I  want  to  tell 
you  because  I  can  trust  you  with  a  seer' — wh' — what's 
the  matter,  did  I  hurt  your  wound  ?  Honestly,  I  want 
to  tell  you  because — well — because  I've  been  deceiving 
you  all  along:  I've  deceived  you  shamefully,  letting  on 
to  like  this  girl  more  than  that,  and  so  on  and  so  on." 

"  Yes,  you  thought  you  were  deceiving  me." 

"  Oh,  well,  maybe  I  wasn't,  but  I  want  to  tell  you  to 
night  because  I'm  going  to  camp  in  the  morning.  Oh, 
yes," — he  named  the  deepest  place  known — "  the  sight 
of  those  webfoot  boys  to-day  was  too  much  for  me; 
I'm  going;  and  Dick,  when  I  told  her  I  was  going — " 

"  Told  whom?  " 

"  Aw,  come,  now,  Dick,  you  know  every  bit  as  well 
as  I  know.  Well,  when  I  told  her  I  was  going  I 
didn't  dream  I  was  going  to  tell  her  anything  else;  I 
give  you  my  word !  Where  in  the  " — same  place  again 
— "  I  ever  got  the  courage  I'll  never  tell  you,  but  all 
of  a  sudden  thinks  I,  '  I'm  never  going  to  get  anything 
but  no,  anyhow,  and  so,  Dick,  I've  been  and  gone  and 
done  it!" 

I  leaned  on  the  stair-newel,  sorry  for  the  poor  fool, 
but  glad  of  this  chance.  "  Why,  Lieutenant,  not  many 
men  would  have  done  as  well.  You  felt  honor-bound 
not  to  slip  away  uncommitted,  so  you  took  your  dose 

271 


The  Cavalier 

like  a  hero  and  licked  the  spoon."  I  felt  that  I  was 
salting  his  wound,  but  we  were  soldiers  and — I  had 
the  salt. 

He  drew  a  sigh.  "  Yes,  I  took  my  dose — of  astonish 
ment.  Dick,  she  said  yes !  Oh,  good  Lord,  Dick,  do 
you  reckon  they'll  ever  be  such  full-blown  idiots  as  to 
let  me  have  her  ?  " 

I  sank  upon  the  steps ;  every  pore  in  my  body  was 
a  fountain  of  cold  sweat :  "  Have  whom  ?  " 

"  Ce*cile."  He  was  going  on  to  declare  himself  no 
more  fit  for  her  than  for  the  presidency  of  the  Con 
federate  States,  which  was  perfectly  true ;  but  I  sprang 
up,  caught  him  (on  my  well  side)  by  one  good  hand, 
and  had  begun  my  enthusiastic  congratulations,  when 
Charlotte  appeared  and  we  swerved  against  the  rail 
to  let  her  pass  upstairs.  In  some  way  as  she  went  by 
it  was  made  plain  to  us  that  she  had  said  no.  "  Good 
night,"  ventured  both  of  us,  timorously. 

"  Good-night,"  she  responded,  very  musically,  but 
as  if  from  a  great  distance. 

LVIII 

THE  UPPER  FORK  OF  THE  ROAD 

FERRY,  as  he  passed  us,  called  my  name,  and  I 
started  after  him.  At  Charlotte's  door  we  heard  the 
greeting  of  her  black  maid.  The  maid's  father,  who 
of  late  had  been  nightly  dressing  Ferry's  wound  and 
mine,  came  to  us  in  Ferry's  room ;  and  there  my  Cap 
tain  turned  to  greet  me,  his  face  white  with  calamity. 

272 


The  Upper  Fork  of  the  Road 

He  took  me  caressingly  by  a  button  of  my  jacket. 
"Can  you  have  your  wound  washed  to-night  before 
mine?" 

"  Why,  certainly,  if  it's  the  least—" 

"  Yes,  thank  you.  And  down  here  in  this  room  in 
stead  of  upstairs  ?  " 

"  Captain  Ferry !  if  you  knew  how  horribly  it  smells, 
you—" 

"  Ah !  don't  I  know  ?  "  he  said,  and  as  I  sat  naked 
from  throat  to  waist  with  the  old  negro  laving  the 
sores,  Ferry  scanned  them  narrowly.  "  They  are  not 
so  bad,  Dick ;  you  think  a  few  hours  in  the  saddle  will 
not  make  them  worse  ?  " 

"  Not  if  they're  spent  for  you,  Captain." 

"  Yes,  for  me ;  also  for  much  better.  We  shall  ride 
for—" 

"  You  ride  ?   Oh,  Captain,  you  are  in  no  condition — " 

"Tst!"  he  laid  a  finger  on  my  lips;  "'twill  not 
be  hard ;  we  are  not  going  on  a  scout — to  jump  fences." 
He  began  to  make  actual  preparations,  and  presently 
helped  me  draw  my  shirt  into  place  again  over  the 
clean  bandages,  while  the  old  man  went  out  after  fresh 
water.  "  I  am  a  hundred  times  more  fit  to  go  than 
to  stay,"  he  suddenly  resumed.  "  I  must  go.  Ah,  idle 
ness,  there  is  nothing  like  idleness  to  drive  a  man  mad ; 
I  must  have  something  to  do — to-night — at  once."  I 
wish  I  knew  how  to  give  the  words  with  his  quiet  in 
tensity. 

I  began  to  unclothe  his  wound.  "  May  I  ask  one 
thing?" 

"  Ah !   I  know  you ;   you  want  to  ask  am  I  taking 

273 


The  Cavalier 

that  upper  fork  of  the  road.  I  am ;  'tis  for  that  I  want 
you;  so  go  you  now  to  the  stable,  saddle  our  horses 
and  bring  them." 

When  I  reached  the  front  steps  with  them  Ferry 
was  at  the  gallery's  edge,  Miss  Harper,  Cecile  and 
Harry  were  on  three  sides  of  him,  and  he  was  ex 
plaining  away  our  astonishing  departure.  We  were 
going  to  Hazlehurst,  to  issue  clothing  and  shoes  to 
those  ragged  and  barefoot  fellows  we  had  seen  that 
afternoon,  and  the  light  of  whose  tentless  camp  was 
yonder  in  the  sky,  now,  toward  Brookhaven.  We  were 
to  go  that  way,  confer  with  their  officers,  telegraph 
from  town  for  authorizations  to  be  sent  to  us  at  Hazle 
hurst,  and  then  to  push  on  to  that  place  and  be  ready 
to  issue  the  stuff  when  the  trains  should  come  up  from 
Brookhaven  bringing  the  brigade.  While  he  spoke 
Camille  and  Estelle  joined  us.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  to 
start  any  later,  'twould  be  too  late." 

To  Harry's  imploring  protest  that  he,  Ferry,  was 
not  fit  to  go  to  Hazlehurst  horseback,  he  replied  "  Well ! 
what  we  going  to  do?  Those  boys  can't  go  to  Big 
Black  swamp  bare-foot." 

Our  dear  friends  were  too  well  aware  of  the  untold 
trouble  to  say  a  word  about  his  coming  back,  but  Miss 
Harper's  parting  injunction  to  me  was  to  write  them. 

The  whole  night  and  the  following  day  were  a  toil 
some  time  for  us,  but  by  fall  of  the  next  night  the 
brigade  had  come  in  rags  and  passed  newly  clothed 
and  shod,  and  in  a  room  of  the  town  tavern  we  dressed 
each  other's  hurts  and  sank  to  sleep  on  one  bed.  The 
night  was  hot,  the  pain  of  my  wounds  was  like  a  great 

274 


The  Upper  Fork  of  the  Road 

stone  lying  on  them,  and  at  the  tragic  moment  of  a 
frightful  dream  I  awoke.  "  Captain,"  I  murmured. 

"Yes?" 

"  Did  she  give  no  reason  ?  " 

"No."  A  silence  followed;  then  he  said,  "You 
know  the  reason,  I  think." 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  do ;   I  think—" 

"  Well  ?  don't  be  afraid  to  say  it." 

I  got  the  words  out  in  some  form,  that  I  believed 
Charlotte  loved  him  deeply,  as  deeply,  passionately, 
exaltedly,  as  ever  a  true  woman  loved  a  man — 

"  Ah,  me !  "  he  lifted  his  arms  wide  and  knitted  his 
fingers  on  his  brow. 

"  And  there  is  the  whole  trouble,"  I  added.  "  She 
will  not  let  you  marry  the  woman  whose — " 

"  Whose  husband  I  have  killed.  ...  Ah,  God ! 
.  .  .  Ah,  my  God!  why  was  I  chosen  to  do  that? 
.  .  .  And  you  think,  Dick,  it  was  not  a  question  of 
time ;  that  I  did  not  ask,  maybe  a  little  too  soon  ?  " 

"  No,  not  as  between  sooner  and  later ;  and  yet,  in 
another  way,  possibly,  yes."  Without  either  of  us 
stirring  from  the  pillow  I  tried  to  explain.  I  pointed 
out  that  trait  in  Charlotte  which  I  called  an  impulse 
suddenly  to  surrender  the  key  of  her  situation,  the  vital 
point  in  her  fortunes  and  fate. 

"  Yes.     .     .     .     Yes,"  Ferry  kept  putting  in. 

I  went  on  to  say  that  she  seemed  now  to  have 
learned,  herself,  that  it  was  on  this  shoal  she  grounded 
at  every  low  water  of  her  physical  and  mental  powers ; 
as  when  over- fatigued,  for  instance ;  and  that  I  should 
not  wonder  if  she  had  bound  herself  never  again  at 

275 


The  Cavalier 

such  a  time  to  let  her  judgment  follow  her  impulses. 
He  laid  his  hand  on  me :  "  Stop ;  stop ;  you  stab  too 
deep.  I  thought  to  take  her  by  surprise  at  that  very 
point,  and  right  there  she  has  countermined.  My 
God !  can  it  be  that  I  am  served  only  right  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  replied,  although  it  was  a  thing  I  would 
have  said  Ned  Ferry  would  not  do,  "  no,  no,  it  is  she 
who  has  served  both  you  and  herself  cruelly  wrong. 
Captain,  I  believe  that  when  Miss  Harper  has  talked 
it  over  with  her  she  will  see  her  mistake  as  we  all  see 
it,  and  will  call  you  back." 

"Ah,  me!    Ah,  me!    Do  you  believe  that,  Dick?" 

"  I  do,  Captain ;  but  at  the  same  time — " 

"What,  what?  Speak  out,  Dick.  You  blame  me 
some  other  way  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  indeed !  I  am  the  one  to  blame,  the  only 
one.  If  you  had  not,  both  of  you,  been  so  blameless 
— so  splendidly  blameless — I  should  hardly  have  let 
myself  sink  so  deep  into  blame ;  but  I  knew  you  would 
never  take  the  last  glad  step  until  you  had  seen  the 
last  sad  proof  that  you  might  take  it.  Oh,  Captain,  to 
night  is  the  third  time  that  in  my  dreams  I  have  seen 
that  man  alive." 

I  do  not  know  how  long  after  that  we  lay  silent, 
but  it  seemed  an  endless  time  before  he  exclaimed  at 
last  "  My  God !  Dick,  you  should  have  told  me." 

"  I  know  it ;  I  know  I  should !  But  it  was  only  a 
dream,  and — " 

"Ah!  'twas  your  doubt  first  and  the  dream  after! 
But  let  us  think  no  more  of  blame,  we  must  settle  the 
doubt.  We  shall  begin  that  to-morrow."  On  my 

276 , 


The   Upper   Fork  of  the   Road 

venturing  to  say  more  he  interrupted.  "  Well,  we  can 
do  nothing  now ;  at  the  present,  sleep  is  our  first  busi 
ness."  However,  after  a  little,  he  spoke  again,  and,  I 
believe,  purely  in  order  to  soothe  me  to  slumber,  specu 
lated  and  counselled  with  me  for  the  better  part  of  an 
hour  concerning  my  own  poor  little  love  affair. 

At  breakfast  he  told  me  the  first  step  in  his  further 
plans  would  be  for  us  to  take  the  train  for  Tangipahoa, 
with  our  horses,  on  our  way  to  our  own  camp;  but 
just  before  the  train  came  the  telegraph  brought  Gen 
eral  Austin's  request — which,  of  course,  carried  all  the 
weight  of  an  order — for  Ferry  to  remain  here  and  make 
ready  for  further  issues  of  quartermaster's  stores.  He 
turned  on  his  heel  and  twisted  his  small  mustache: 
"  That  means  we  are  kept  here  to  be  kept  here,  Rich 
ard." 

It  was  a  mistaken  kindness,  from  our  point  of  view, 
but  it  had  the  merit  that  it  kept  us  busy.  In  two  days 
the  post-quartermaster's  affairs  and  supplies  were  re 
duced  to  perfect  order  for  the  first  time  in  their  his 
tory.  For  two  days  more  we  ran  a  construction  train 
and  with  a  swarm  of  conscripts  repaired  two  or  three 
miles  of  road-bed  and  some  trestle-work  in  a  swamp; 
and  at  every  respite  in  our  strenuous  activities  we  dis 
coursed  of  the  girls  we'd  left  behind  us;  their  minds, 
their  manners,  their  features,  figures,  tastes  and  talents, 
and  their  walk  and  talk.  So  came  the  end  of  the  week, 
and  while  the  sun  was  still  above  the  trees  we  went 
on  down,  inspecting  the  road  beyond  our  repairs,  on 
our  own  hand-car  to  Brookhaven.  With  heads  bare, 
jackets  in  our  laps,  and  muddy  boots  dangling  oven 

277 


The  Cavalier 

< 

the  car's  front  edge,  and  with  six  big  negroes  at  the 
levers  behind  us,  we  watched  the  miles  glide  under  our 
wheels  and  grow  fewer  and  fewer  between  us  and  the 
shrine  of  our  hearts.  "  Sing,  Dick,"  said  Ferry,  and 
we  chanted  together,  as  we  had  done  at  every  sunset 
these  three  days,  "  O  my  love  is  like  a  red,  red  rose." 
We  could  not  have  done  it  had  we  known  that  yonder 
glorious  sun  was  setting  forever  upon  the  fortunes  of 
our  Southern  Confederacy.  It  was  the  fourth  of  July ; 
Lee  was  in  full  retreat  from  Gettysburg,  Vicksburg 
was  gone,  Port  Hudson  was  doomed,  and  all  that  was 
left  for  us  now  was  to  die  hard. 


LIX 
UNDER  CHARLOTTE'S  WINDOW 

AT  the  tavern,  where  we  went  to  smarten  up  and 
to  eat,  we  chanced  upon  Gregory.  He  was  very  shy 
of  Ferry,  because  Ferry  was  a  captain,  but  told  me  the 
latest  news  from  the  Wall  place,  where  he  had  spent 
the  previous  evening.  Harry  and  the  surgeon  were 
gone  to  camp,  the  Harpers  were  well,  Charlotte  was — 
better,  after  a  bad  turn  of  several  days.  We  felt  in 
duty  bound  to  stay  within  hail  of  the  telegraph  office 
until  it  should  close  for  the  night ;  and  when  the  opera 
tor  was  detained  in  it  much  beyond  the  usual  time, 
Ferry,  as  we  hovered  near,  said  at  length,  "  Well,  I'm 
sorry  for  you,  Dick;  'tis  now  too  late  for  you  to  go 
yonder — this  evening." 

"  Didn't  you  intend  to  call,  too?* 
278 


Under  Charlotte's  Window 

"  No,"  he  said ;  yet  the  moment  the  operator  turned 
the  key  in  his  door  we  sauntered  away  from  the  sta 
tion,  tavern,  town,  and  out  into  the  rain-famished 
country.  We  chose  a  road  on  high  ground,  under 
pines ;  the  fact  that  a  few  miles  of  it  would  bring  us  to 
Squire  Wall's  was  not  sufficient  reason  for  us  to  shun 
it,  and  we  loitered  on  and  on,  discoursing  philosophical 
ly  on  man  and  woman  and  the  duties  of  each  to  other. 
Through  habit  we  went  softly,  and  so,  in  time,  came 
up  past  a  small  garden  under  the  house's  southern  side. 
Here  silence  was  only  decorum,  for  every  window  in 
the  dark  upper  rooms  was  thrown  open  to  the  sultry 
air.  The  house's  front  was  away  from  the  direction 
of  the  town,  and  at  a  corner  of  this  garden,  where  the 
road  entered  the  open  grove,  the  garden  fence  turned 
north  at  a  right  angle,  while  the  road  went  on  through 
the  grove  into  wide  cornfields  beyond. 

We  kept  to  the  garden  fence  till  it  brought  us  along 
the  dooryard  front,  facing  the  house.  Thus  far  the 
whole  place  seemed  fast  asleep.  Along  the  farthest, 
the  northern,  side  a  line  of  planted  trees  ran  close  to 
a  narrow  wing  of  but  one  room  on  each  of  its  two 
stories,  and  the  upper  of  these  two  rooms  was  Char 
lotte's.  Where  we  paused,  at  the  dooryard  gate,  we 
could  not  see  this  wing,  but  we  knew  its  exterior  per 
fectly  ;  it  had  a  narrow  window  in  front,  looking  into 
the  grove,  and  a  broader  one  at  the  rear,  that  over 
looked  an  open  stretch  of  the  Wall  plantation.  The 
place  seemed  fast  asleep,  I  say,  but  we  had  not  a  doubt 
we  were  being  watched — by  the  two  terrible  dogs  that 
guarded  the  house  but  never  barked.  By  this  time 

279 


The  Cavalier 

they  should  have  recognized  us  and  ought  to  be  com 
ing  forward  and  wagging  faintly,  as  who  should  say 
"  Yes,  that's  all  right,  but  we  have  our  orders." 

"  Ah !  " — Ferry  guardedly  pointed  to  the  ground 
at  the  corner  of  the  house  nearest  Charlotte's  room; 
there  were  both  the  dogs,  dim  as  phantoms  and  as 
silent,  standing  and  peering  not  toward  us  but 
around  to  the  wing  side  in  a  way  to  make  one's 
blood  stop.  We  drew  deeper  into  the  grove  and  made 
a  short  circuit  that  brought  us  in  line  with  Char 
lotte's  two  windows,  and  there,  at  the  farther  one, 
with  her  back  to  us,  sat  Charlotte,  looking  toward 
Hazlehurst.  The  bloodthirsty  beasts  at  the  corner  of 
the  house  were  so  intently  waiting  to  spring  upon  some 
thing,  somebody,  between  them  and  the  nearer  win 
dow,  that  we  were  secure  from  their  notice.  We  had 
hardly  more  than  become  aware  of  these  things  v/hen, 
in  the  line  of  planted  trees,  out  of  the  depths  of  the 
one  nearest  the  nearer  window,  sounded  a  note  that 
brought  Charlotte  instantly  to  her  feet;  the  same 
feeble,  smothered  cry  she  had  heard  the  night  she  was 
wounded.  She  crossed  to  the  front  window  and  lis 
tened,  first  standing  erect,  and  then  stooping  and  lean 
ing  out.  When  we  saw  her  do  that  we  knew  how  little 
she  cared  for  her  life ;  Ferry  beckoned  me  up  from  be 
hind  him;  neither  of  us  needed  to  say  he  feared  the 
signal  was  from  Oliver.  "  Watch  here,"  he  whispered, 
and  keeping  the  deepest  shade,  started  eagerly,  with 
drawn  revolver,  toward  the  particular  tree.  I  saw  the 
dogs  discover  and  recognize  him  and  welcome  his  aid, 
yet  I  kept  my  closest  watch  on  that  tree's  boughs  and 

280 


Under  Charlotte's  Window 

on  Charlotte.  She  was  wondering,  I  guessed,  whether 
the  call  was  from  some  messenger  of  Ferry,  or  waa 
only  a  bird's  cry.  As  if  she  decided  it  was  the  latter, 
she  moved  away,  and  had  nearly  re-crossed  the  room, 
when  the  same  sad  tremolo  came  searching  the  air 
again.  Nevertheless  she  went  on  to  the  farther  win 
dow  and  stood  gazing  out  for  the  better  part  of  a 
minute,  while  in  my  heart  I  besought  her  not  to  look 
behind.  For  Ferry  and  the  dogs  had  vanished  in 
shadow,  and  outside  her  nearer  window,  wavering  now 
above  and  now  below  the  sill,  I  could  just  descry  a 
small  pale  object  that  reminded  me  of  that  missive 
Coralie  Rothvelt  had  passed  up  to  me  outside  the  win 
dow-sill  at  old  Lucius  Oliver's  house  exactly  a  month 
before.  From  the  upper  depths  of  the  nearest  tree 
this  small  thing  was  being  proffered  on  the  end  of 
a  fishing-rod.  Presently  the  rod  must  have  tapped  the 
sill,  with  such  a  start  did  she  face  about.  Silently  she 
ran,  snatched  the  dumb  messenger,  and  drew  down  the 
window-shade.  A  moment  later  the  room  glowed  with 
a  candle,  while  her  shadow,  falling  upon  the  shade, 
revealed  her  scanning  a  letter,  lifting  her  arms  with 
emotion,  and  so  passing  out  of  the  line  of  view. 

I  waited  on.  So  absorbed  was  I  that  I  did  not  hear 
the  coming  of  a  horseman  in  the  fields  beyond  the 
grove,  nor  the  click  of  a  field  gate;  but  when  the 
strange  quietude  of  Ferry  and  the  dogs  had  begun  to 
reassure  me  I  became  aware  of  this  new-comer  ap 
proaching  the  dooryard.  There  he  reined  in  and  hal 
looed.  I  knew  the  voice.  An  answer  came  from  an 
upper  window. 

281 


The  Cavalier 

"  Is  this  Squire  Wall's?  "  asked  the  traveller.  "  Well, 
Squire,  I'm  from  General  Austin's  headquarters,  with 
orders  to  Captain  Ferry." 

"  Captain  Ferry  ain't  stopping  with  us  now,  sir,  he's 
'way  up  at  Hazlehurst." 

"  Yes,  sir.  I  didn't  know  but  he  might  'a'  come 
down  to  spend  to-morrow  with  you,  it  being  the  Sab 
bath.  My  name's  Gholson,  sir;  I've  got  letters  for 
the  Miss  Harpers;  yes,  sir;  and  one  for  Private 
Smith,  from  his  mother,  in  New  Orleans." 

"  My  sakes !  yo'  pow'ful  welcome,  Mr.  Wholesome ; 
just  wait  till  I  call  off  my  dogs,  sir,  and  I'll  let  you  in." 

When  the  dogs  came  at  the  Squire's  call  I  breathed 
relief.  Ferry  appeared  behind  me  and  beckoned  me 
deeper  into  the  grove.  He  sank  upon  a  stump,  whis 
pering  "  That  was  worse  than  ten  fights." 

"  Who  was  it  ?  "  I  asked.    "  Where  is  he  ?  " 

He  pointed  to  the  field  gate  through  which  Ghol 
son  had  come.  In  the  field  a  small  man  was  re-closing 
it  cautiously,  and  now  he  mounted  and  rode  away;  it 
was  Isidore  Goldschmidt,  of  the  Plank-road  swamp. 
I  was  wondering  why  he  had  behaved  in  this  skulking 
way,  when  Ferry,  as  if  reading  my  thought,  said,  "  Isi 
dore  can't  afford  to  be  found  seventy-five  miles  inside 
our  lines  with  no  papers  except  a  letter  from  a  Yankee 
officer — and  not  knowing,  himself,  what's  in  it." 

"  Oh !  why  should  he  risk  his  life  to  bring  such  a 
thing  to  her?" 

"  Because  three  months  ago  she  risked  her  life  to 
save  the  life  of  his  father,  and  now,  since  only  last 
week,  that  Yankee  has  saved  the  life  of  his  mother," 

382 


Tidings 


I  asked  who  this  Yankee  might  be.  "  Well,  that  is 
yet  more  strange ;  he  is  the  brother  of  Captain  Jewett." 

We  were  moving  to  the  house;  at  the  steps  we 
halted;  the  place  was  all  alight  and  the  ladies  were 
arriving  in  the  parlor.  A  beam  of  light  touching 
Ferry's  face  made  his  smile  haggard.  I  asked  if  this 
Jewett  was  another  leader  of  scouts. 

"  No,  he  is  a  high-rank  surgeon.  Yet  I  think  he 
must  have  heard  all  about  her ;  he  wouldn't  send  that 
letter,  that  way,  just  for  grati-tude." 

"  Yes,"  I  responded,  pondering,  "  he  may  easily  have 
learned  about  her,"  and  I  called  to  mind  that  chief- 
of-staff  of  whom  Charlotte  had  told  us.  Then,  remem 
bering  her  emotional  shadow-play  on  the  window- 
shade,  I  added,  "  He  knew  at  least  what  would  be 
important  news  to  her — Captain,  I  have  it !  " 

He  made  a  motion  of  pain — "  Don't  say  it !  "  and 
we  read  in  each  other's  eyes  the  one  conviction  that 
from  a  surgeon's  personal  knowledge  this  man  had 
written  to  warn  Charlotte  that  Oliver  was  alive. 


LX 

TIDINGS 

ALL  the  glad  difference  between  hope  stark  drowned 
and  hope  sighing  back  into  life  lightened  Ferry's  heart ; 
he  gripped  my  shoulder — the  sound  one,  by  good  luck, 
— and  drew  me  into  the  dining-room,  where  the  whole 
company  were  gathered  to  see  Gholson  eat.  Our  entry 

283 


The  Cavalier 

was  a  fresh  surprise.  As  we  drank  the  flatteries  of 
seven  lovely  welcomes,  from  behind  Gholson  I  recon 
noitred  Charlotte,  and  the  fullest  confirmation  of  our 
guess  was  in  the  peaceful  resolve  of  her  eyes.  I  noted 
the  Harpers,  all,  and  dear  Mrs.  Wall's  sweet  freckled 
face,  take  new  gladness  of  the  happy  change,  while 
unable  to  define  its  cause. 

But  now  came  raptures  and  rhapsodies  over  the 
opened  letters.  Ferry's  orders  had  not  been  expected 
to  reach  him  to-night,  Gholson  said,  and  so  we  insisted 
they  and  my  letter  should  remain  in  the  saddle-pockets 
while  Gholson  ate,  and  while  the  good  news,  public 
and  personal,  of  the  Harpers'  letters  went  round. 

"But  I  thought  the'  was  fi-ive  letters/'  said  the 
Squire  as  we  were  about  to  leave  the  board ;  at  which 
Mrs.  Wall  mumbled  to  him  to  "  hush  up ;  "  for  the  fifth 
was  to  Cecile. 

"Yes,"  guilefully  said  Charlotte,  "Richard's  let 
ter  !  "  and  we  all  followed  Gholson  to  where  his  sad 
dle  lay  on  the  gallery.  There  he  handed  out  Ferry's 
document  and  went  on  rummaging  for  mine. 

"  The  two  were  right  here  together,"  he  said,  "  and 
Mr.  Smith's  was  marked  '  valuable '  and  had  some 
thing  hard  in  one  corner  of  it.  Camille  brought  a 
candle,  Estelle  another ;  Gholson  rose  from  his  knee : 
"  Smith,  it's  gone !  I've  lost  it !  And  yet  "—he 
slapped  his  breast-pockets — "  no,  it's  somewhere  in  the 
grove;  it's  between  here  and  that  cornfield  gate!  I 
counted  all  the  papers  just  this  side  of  that  gate,  and 
I  must  'a'  dropped  yours  then ! "  Cecile  brought  a 
third  light  and  we  sallied  forth  into  the  motionless  air, 

284 


Tiding! 


Estelle  with  a  candle  and  Gholson,  Camille  with  a 
candle  and  me,  Ce"cile  with  a  candle  and  Mrs.  Wall, 
Miss  Harper  and  the  Squire,  and  Charlotte  and  Ferry. 
In  the  heart  of  the  grove  Estelle  gave  a  soft  cry, 
sprang,  stooped,  straightened,  and  handed  me  the  let 
ter. 

"  Yes,"  exclaimed  Camille  as  the  three  candle-bear 
ers  gathered  close,  "  that's  your  mother's  writing,"  and 
as  we  fell  into  marching  order  again,  with  the  lights 
still  in  the  front  files,  I  opened  it.  It  was  thick  and 
soft  with  sheet  after  sheet  of  thinnest  paper.  With 
these  was  a  sealed  letter,  unaddressed,  containing  in 
one  corner  what  seemed  to  be  a  ring.  Around  all  was 
a  sheet  of  writing  of  later  date  than  any  other.  Won 
derful,  my  mother's  lines  declared,  was  the  Providence 
that  had  brought  her  wounded  boy  among  such  price 
less  friends ;  and  wonderful  that  same  Providence  that 
now  gave  her  the  chance  to  send  three  weeks'  daily  let 
ters  in  one,  and  to  send  them  by  a  hand  so  sure  that 
she  ventured  to  add  this  other  note,  a  matter  so  secret 
that  it  must  be  delivered  only  by  my  own  hands,  or 
hands  which  I  could  trust  as  my  own,  to  Charlotte 
Oliver.  We  glanced  back  in  search  of  Charlotte.  She 
and  Ferry  were  well  in  the  rear  of  the  procession,  mov 
ing  with  laggard  steps,  she  lighting  his  page  with  a 
borrowed  candle,  and  he  evidently  reading  not  his 
orders,  but  the  Federal  surgeon's  letter.  "  Oh,  don't 
speak  yet,"  murmured  Camille,  "  let  them  alone  I  " 

At  the  garden  gate  the  most  of  the  company  passed 
on  into  the  house,  Gholson  among  them.  His  face, 
as  for  an  instant  he  turned  aside  to  me,  betrayed  a 

285 


The  Cavalier 

frozen  rage;  for  Ferry  and  Charlotte  tarried  just  at 
our  backs,  she  seated  on  the  "  horse-block  "  and  he 
leaning  against  it.  A  stir  of  air  brought  by  the  rising 
moon  had  blown  out  their  light.  Gholson  left  me,  and 
Camille  waited  at  my  side  while  I  tried  to  read  by 
the  flare  of  her  guttering  candle.  "  Come,  my  dear," 
said  Miss  Harper  from  half-way  up  the  walk,  but  Char 
lotte  called  Miss  Harper. 

"  You'd  better  go  in,  Camille,"  insisted  the  aunt  as 
she  passed  us,  but  Charlotte  had  just  asked  for  our 
candle  to  relight  her  own,  and  she  said  to  Miss  Harper, 
"  Let  them  stay,  won't  you  ?  "  and  then  to  Ferry,  "  They 
might  as  well,  mightn't  they?  Oh,  now," — as  Camille 
handed  her  my  mother's  letter — "  they  must !  "  She 
toyed  with  the  envelope's  thinner  edge  without  notic' 
ing  the  ring  in  the  corner.  "  My  dears,"  she  said,  look' 
ing  frail  and  distressed,  yet  resolute,  "  I  have  positive 
intelligence — not  through  Captain,  nor  Richard,  nor 
Mr.  Gholson, — I'll  tell  you  how  some  day — positive  in 
telligence  that — the  dead — is  not  dead ;  the  blow,  Rich 
ard,  glanced.  I  was  foolish  never  to  think  of  that  pos 
sibility,  it  occurs  so  often.  He  was  profoundly  stunned, 
so  that  he  didn't  come-to  until  he  was  brought  to  a 
surgeon.  It's  from  that  surgeon  I  have  the  news; 
here's  his  letter/' 

"  Charlotte,  my  dear,"  interrupted  Miss  Harper, 
"  tell  us  the  remainder  to-morrow,  but  now — " 

"  No,  sweetest  friend,  there  will  never  be  another 
chance  like  this;  Captain  Ferry's  orders  carry  him  te 
Jackson  at  daylight  to-morrow,  and — and  we  may  not 
meet  again  for  years;  let  me  go  on.  When  the  gasb 

286 


Tidings 


was  sewed  up,  the  hi  id  was  really  the  worse  hurt  of 
the  two,  and  after  a  few  days  he  was  sent  down  on  a 
steamer  to  New  Orleans  with  a  great  lot  of  other  sick 
and  wounded,  and  with  the  commanding  general's 
warning  not  to  come  back  on  peril  of  his  life.  "Tisn't 
easy  to  tell  this,  but  you  four  have  a  particular  right 
to  know  it  from  me  and  at  once.  So  let  me  say  " — she 
handed  Ferry  my  mother's  letter  as  if  it  were  a  bur* 
densome  distraction — "  I'm  not  sorry  for  the  mistake, 
Richard,  which  we  all  so  innocently  made;  and  you 
mustn't  be  sorry  for  me  and  be  saying  to  yourselves 
that  my  captivity  is  on  me  again ;  for  I'm  happier  to 
night  than  I've  been  since  the  night  the  mistake  was 
made." 

She  dropped  a  hand  to  Ferry's  to  receive  again  the 
neglected  letter,  and  chanced  to  take  it  by  the  corner 
that  held  the  ring.  With  that  she  stared  at  us,  fin 
gered  it,  rended  the  envelope,  gave  one  glance  to  her 
own  name  engraved  inside  a  plain  gold  ring  of  the 
sort  New  Orleans  girls  bestow  upon  those  to  whom 
they  are  betrothed,  and  springing  to  the  ground  be 
tween  our  two  candles,  bent  over  the  open  page  and 
cried  through  a  flood  of  tears,  "  Oh,  God,  have  mercy 
on  him,  he  is  gone !  He  is  gone,  Edgard  !  Oh,  Edgard, 
he  is  gone  at  last;  gone  beyond  all  doubt,  and  our 
hands — our  hands  and  our  hearts  are  clean !  " 

Ferry  tossed  away  his  candle  and  turned  upon  her, 
but  she  retreated  into  Miss  Harper's  arms  laughing 
through  her  tears.  "  Oh,  no,  no !  we've  never  hurried 
yet,  never  yet,  my  master  in  patience,  and  we'll  not 
hurry  now !  Go  and  come  again.  Go,  wait,  hide  your 

287 


The  Cavalier 

eyes  till  I  cry  '  whoop/  and  come  again  and  find  me, 
and,  I  pledge  you  before  these  dear  witnesses,  I'll  be 
'  it '  for  the  rest  of  my  life !  " 

With  the  letter  again  held  open,  and  bidding  Miss 
Harper  and  Camille  read  with  her,  she  swept  a  fleet 
glance  along  the  close  lines  that  told  how  Oliver,  half 
cured  of  his  wounds,  had  died  in  a  congestive  chill, 
of  swamp-fever,  the  day  he  landed  in  New  Orleans. 
"  See,  see,  Richard,  here  your  mother  has  copied  the 
hospital's  certificate." 

She  read  on  aloud  how  two  private  Federal  soldiers, 
hospital  convalescents,  had  come  to  my  mother  telling 
her  of  his  death,  and  how  he  had  named  my  mother 
over  and  over  in  his  delirium,  desiring  that  she  should 
be  given  charge  of  the  small  effects  on  his  person  and 
that  she  would  return  them  to  his  father  in  the  Con 
federacy.  My  mother  wrote  how  she  had  been  obliged 
secretly  to  buy  back  from  the  hospital  steward  a  carte- 
de-visite  photograph  of  Charlotte,  and  this  ring ;  how, 
Oliver  not  being  a  Federal  soldier,  she  had  been  al 
lowed  to  assume  the  expense  and  task  of  his  burial; 
how  she  had  found  the  body  already  wrapped  and 
bound,  in  the  military  way,  when  she  first  saw  it,  but 
heard  the  two  convalescents  praising  to  each  other  the 
strong,  hard-used  beauty  of  the  hidden  face,  and  was 
shown  the  suit  of  brown  plantation  jeans  we  all  knew 
so  well;  and  how,  lastly,  when  her  overbearing  con 
science  compelled  her  to  tell  them  she  might  find  it 
easier  to  send  the  relics  to  the  wife  rather  than  the 
father,  they  had  furtively  advised  her  to  do  as  she 
pleased. 

288 


Tidings 

"Charlotte,"  said  Miss  Harper,  "the  thing  is  an 
absolute  certainty !  Even  without  your  likeness  or — " 

"  Ah,  no,  no,  not  without  this !  the  ring,  the  ring ! 
But  with  it,  yes !  This  is  the  crowning  proof !  my  ring 
to  him !  Oh,  see  my  name  inside  it,  Camille ;  this  little 
signet  is  Heaven's  own  testimony  and  acquittal  1  Look, 
Richard,  look  at  it  now,  for  no  living  soul,  no  light  of 
day,  shall  ever  see  it  again — " 

"  Sweet  heart,"  replied  Miss  Harper,  "  very  good ! 
very  good!  but  now  say  no  more  of  that  sort.  God 
bless  you,  dear,  just  let  yourself  be  happy.  Good-night 
— no,  no,  sit  still;  stay  where  you  are,  love,  while 
Camille  and  I  go  in  and  Richard  steps  around  to  the 
stable  and  puts  our  team  into  the  road- wagon;  for, 
Captain  Ferry,  neither  you  nor  he  is  fit  to  walk  into 
Brookhaven ;  we  can  bring  the  rig  back  when  we  come 
from  church  to-morrow." 

"  No,  Richard,"  said  Charlotte,  "  get  my  wagon  and 
the  little  Mexicans."  Then  to  Miss  Harper  and  Ca 
mille,  "  Good-night,  dears ;  I'll  wait  here  that  long,  if 
Captain  Ferry  will  allow  me."  She  turned  to  him  with 
the  moonlight  in  her  eyes,  that  danced  riotously  as  she 
said  in  her  softest,  deepest  note,  "  You're  afraid !  "  and 
I  thanked  Heaven  that  Coralie  Rothvelt  was  still  a  puls 
ing  reality  in  the  bosom  of  Charlotte  Oliver. 


289 


The  Cavalier 
LXI 

WHILE  DESTINY   MOVED  ON 

NED  FERRY  and  I  never  saw  Squire  Wall's  again. 
When  our  hand-car  the  next  morning  landed  us  in 
Hazlehurst  the  news  of  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg  was 
on  every  tongue,  in  every  face,  and  a  telegram  awaited 
Ferry  which  changed  his  destination  to  Meridian,  a 
hundred  miles  farther  to  the  east.  He  kept  me  with 
him  at  Hazlehurst  for  two  days,  to  help  him  and  the 
post-quartermaster  get  everything  ready  to  be  moved 
and  saved  if  our  cavalry  should  be  driven  east  of  the 
Jackson  Railroad.  But  it  was  not,  and  by  and  by  we 
were  sundered  and  I  went  and  became  at  length  in 
practical  and  continuous  reality  one  of  Ferry's  scouts 
— minus  Ferry.  Oh,  the  long  hot  toils  and  pains  of 
those  July  and  August  days!  the  scorching  suns,  the 
stumbling  night-marches,  the  aching  knees,  the  groan 
ing  beasts,  the  scant,  foul  rations,  the  dust  and  sweat, 
the  blood  and  the  burials.  To  be  sure,  I  speak  of  these 
hardships  far  more  from  sympathy  than  from  experi 
ence,  so  much  above  the  common  lot  of  the  long  dust- 
choked  column  was  that  of  our  small  band  of  scouts. 
After  July  our  brigade  operated  mainly  in  the  region  of 
the  Big  Black,  endeavoring,  with  others,  to  make  the  en 
emy  confine  his  overflow  meetings  to  the  Vicksburg  side 
of  that  unlovely  stream.  How  busy  our  small  troop  was 
kept;  and  what  fame  we  won!  On  a  certain  day  we 
came  out  of  a  dried  swamp  in  column  and  ambled  half 

290 


While  Destiny  Moved  On 

across  a  field  to  see  if  a  brigade  going  by  us  at  right 
angles  in  the  shade  of  a.  wood  at  the  field's  edge  might 
be  ours.  It  was  not,  though  they  were  Confederates; 
but  one  of  its  captains  was  sent  out  toward  us  with  a 
squadron  to  see  who  we  might  be,  in  our  puzzling 
uniform,  and  when,  midway,  he  made  us  out  and 
called  back  to  his  commander,  "  Ferry's  scouts !  "  the 
whole  column  cheered  us.  I  feel  the  thrill  of  it  to 
this  hour. 

How  busy  we  were  kept,  and  how  much  oftener  I 
wrote  to  Ferry,  and  to  Camille,  than  to  my  mother. 
And  how  much  closer  I  watched  the  trend  of  things 
that  belonged  only  to  this  small  story  than  I  did  that 
great  theatre  of  a  whole  world's  fortunes,  whose  arches 
spread  and  resounded  from  the  city  of  Washington  to 
the  city  of  Mexico.  In  mid-August  one  of  Camille's 
heartlessly  infrequent  letters  brought  me  a  mint  of 
blithe  news.  Harry  and  Cecile  were  really  engaged; 
Major  Harper,  aunt  Martha,  General  Austin,  Captain 
Ferry  and  Charlotte  had  all  written  the  distant  father 
in  his  behalf,  and  the  distant  father  had  capitulated. 
Furthermore,  Captain  Ferry's  latest  letter  to  Charlotte 
had  brought  word  that  in  spite  of  all  backsets  he  was 
promised  by  his  physician  that  in  ten  days  more  he 
could  safely  take  the  field  again.  But,  best  of  all, 
Major  Harper,  having  spent  a  week  with  his  family — 
not  on  leave,  but  on  some  mysterious  business  that 
somehow  included  a  great  train  of  pontoon  bridges — 
had  been  so  completely  won  over  to  Charlotte  by  her 
own  sweet  ways  that,  on  his  own  suggestion  to  his 
sister,  and  their  joint  proposition,  by  correspondence, 

291 


The  Cavalier 

to  Ferry,  another  group  of  letters,  from  Miss  Harper, 
the  Major  and  the  General,  had  been  sent  to  the  Du- 
rands  in  New  Orleans — father,  mother,  and  grand 
mother — telling  them  all  about  Charlotte;  her  story, 
her  beauty,  her  charms  of  manner,  mind,  and  heart. 
And  so,  wrote  my  correspondent,  the  Wall  household 
were  living  in  confident  hope  and  yet  in  unbearable  sus 
pense;  for  these  things  were  now  full  two  weeks  old, 
and  would  have  been  told  me  sooner  only  that  she, 
Camille,  had  promised  never  to  tell  them  to  any  one 
whomsoever. 

A  week  later  came  another  of  these  heartlessly  infre 
quent  letters.  Mr.  Gregory,  it  said, — oh,  hang  Mr. 
Gregory ! — had  called  the  previous  evening.  Then  fol 
lowed  the  information  that  poor  Mr.  Gholson — oh,  dear ! 
the  poor  we  have  always  with  us ! — had  arrived  again 
from  camp  so  wasted  with  ague  as  to  be  a  sight  for 
tears.  He  had  come  consigned  to  "  our  hospital,"  an 
establishment  which  the  Harpers,  Charlotte  and  the 
Walls  had  set  up  in  the  old  "  summer-hotel "  at  Pana 
cea  Springs,  and  had  contrived  to  get  the  medical 
authorities  to  adopt,  officer  and — in  a  manner — equip. 
They  were  giving  dances  there,  to  keep  the  soldiers 
cheerful,  said  the  letter,  in  which  its  writer  took  her 
usual  patriotic  part,  and  Mr.  Gregory — oh,  save  us 
alive !  And  now  I  was  to  prepare  myself :  the  Durands 
had  got  the  bunch  of  letters  and  had  written  a  lovely 
reply  to  Captain  Ferry,  who  had  sent  it  to  Charlotte, 
claiming  her  hand,  and  Charlotte  had  answered  yes.  If 
I  thought  I  had  ever  seen  her  beautiful  or  blithe,  or 
sweet,  or  happy,  I  ought  to  see  her  now;  while  as 

292 


While  Destiny  Moved  On 

for  the  writer  herself,  nothing  in  all  her  life  had  ever 
so  filled  her  with  bliss,  or  ever  could  again. 

Ferry  did  not  arrive,  but  day  by  day,  night  by  night, 
we  stalked  the  enemy,  longing  for  our  Captain  to  re 
turn  to  us.  Quinn  was  fearless,  daring,  indefatigable ; 
but  Quinn  was  not  Ferry.  Often  we  talked  it  over 
by  twos  or  fours ;  the  swiftness  of  Ferry's  divinations, 
the  brilliant  celerity  with  which  he  followed  them  out, 
the  kindness  of  his  care;  Quinn's  care  of  us  was  pa 
ternal,  Ferry's  was  brotherly  and  motherly.  We  loved 
Quinn  for  the  hate  and  scorn  that  overflowed  from  his 
very  gaze  upon  everything  false  or  base.  But  we 
loved  Ferry  for  loving  each  and  every  one  of  us  be 
yond  his  desert,  and  for  a  love  which  went  farther 
yet,  we  fancied,  when  it  lived  and  kept  its  health  in 
every  insalubrious  atmosphere,  from  the  sulphurous 
breath  of  old  Dismukes  to  the  carbonic-acid  gas  of 
Gholson's  cant.  We  made  great  parade  of  recognizing 
his  defects ;  it  had  all  the  fine  show  of  a  motion  to  re 
consider.  For  example,  we  said,  his  serene  obstinacy 
in  small  matters  was  equally  exasperating  and  ridicu 
lous;  or,  for  another  instance, — so  and  so;  but  in 
summing  up  we  always  lumped  such  failings  as  "  the 
faults  of  his  virtues,"  and  neglected  to  catalogue  them. 
Thinking  it  all  over  a  thousand  times  since,  I  have 
concluded  that  the  main  source  of  his  charm,  what 
won  our  approval  for  whatever  he  did,  however  he  did 
it,  was  that  he  seemed  never  to  regard  any  one  as  the 
mere  means  to  an  end — except  himself. 

If  this  history  were  more  of  war  than  of  love — and 
really  at  times  I  fear  it  is — we  might  fill  pages  telling 

293 


The  Cavalier 

of  the  brigade's  September  and  early  October  opera 
tions  in  that  long  tongue  of  devastated  country  which 
narrowed  from  northeast  to  southwest  between  Big 
Black  on  our  front  and  the  Tallahala  and  Bayou  Pierre 
behind  us.  At  Baker's  Creek  it  had  a  bloody  all-day 
fight,  in  which  we  took  part  after  having  been  driven 
in  upon  the  brigade.  It  was  there  that  at  dusk,  to  the 
uproarious  delight  of  half  the  big  camp,  and  with  our 
Captain  once  more  at  our  head,  for  he  had  rejoined  us 
that  very  morning,  we  came  last  off  the  field,  singing 
"  Ned  Ferry's  a-comin'  down  de  lane." 

On  a  day  late  in  October  our  company  were  in 
bivouac  after  some  hard  night-riding.  Some  twenty- 
five  miles  west  of  us  the  brigade  had  been  resting  for 
several  days  on  the  old  camp-ground  at  Gallatin,  but 
now  they  were  gone  to  Union  Springs.  Ferry,  with 
a  few  men,  was  scouting  eastward.  Quinn  awaited 
only  his  return  in  order  to  take  half  a  dozen  or  so  of 
picked  fellows  down  southward  and  westward  about 
Fayette.  Between  ten  and  eleven  that  night  a  corporal 
of  the  guard  woke  me,  and  as  I  flirted  on  my  boots 
and  jacket  and  saddled  up,  said  Ferry  was  back  and 
Quinn  gone.  I  reported  to  Ferry,  who  handed  me  a 
despatch :  "  Give  that  to  General  Austin ;  he  has  gone 
back  to  Gallatin — without  the  brigade — to  wait — with 
the  others  " — his  smile  broadened. 

"  Captain," — I  swallowed  a  lump — "  what  others  ?  " 

"  Well, — all  the  others ;  Major  Harper,  Colonel  Dis- 

mukes,  Harry  Helm,  Squire  Wall,  Mrs.  Wall,  the  four 

Harper  ladies,  and — eh, — let  me  see,  is  that  all? — ah, 

fio,  the  old  black  man  and  his  daughter,  and — eh, — the 

294 


A  Tarrying  Bridegroom 

two  little  mule'!  that's  all — stop!  I  was  forgetting! 
What  is  that  fellow's  name  we  used  to  know  ?  ah,  yes ; 
Charlie  Toliver !  "  In  a  moment  he  sobered :  "  Yes, 
all  will  be  yonder,  and  I  wait  only  for  Quinn  to  get 
back  in  the  morning,  to  come  myself."  In  the  fulness 
of  his  joy  he  had  to  give  my  horse  a  parting  slap. 
"  Good-night !  good-bye — till  to-morrow !  " 

I  galloped  away  filled  with  an  absurd  foreboding  that 
he  was  too  sure,  which  may  have  come  wholly  from 
my  bad  temper  at  being  started  too  late  to  see  our 
ladies  before  morning.  However,  at  two  that  night, 
my  saddle  laid  under  my  head,  and  haversack  under 
the  saddle,  I  fell  asleep  with  all  Gallatin  for  my  bed 
chamber,  the  courthouse  square  for  my  bed,  the  sky 
for  my  tester,  the  pole-star  for  my  taper,  hogs  for 
mosquitoes  and  a  club  for  a  fan. 


LXII 

A  TARRYING  BRIDEGROOM 

JOYOUS  was  the  dawn.  With  their  places  in  the  hos 
pital  filled  for  the  brief  time  by  Brookhaven  friends, 
here  were  all  our  fairs,  not  to  speak  of  the  General, 
the  Colonel,  the  Major,  idlers  of  the  town  and  region, 
and  hospital  bummers  who  had  followed  up  unbidden 
and  glaringly  without  wedding-garments.  Cecile, 
Harry,  Camille  "  and  others "  prepared  the  church. 
The  General  kept  his  tent,  the  Major  rode  to  Hazle- 
hurst,  and  the  Colonel,  bruised  and  stiffened  by  a  late 

295 


The  Cavalier 

fall  from  his  horse,  lounged  amiably  just  beyond  talk 
ing  range  of  the  ladies  and  grumbled  jokes  to  Chaplain 
Roly-poly,  whose  giggling  enjoyment  of  them  made 
us  hope  they  were  tempered  to  that  clean-shaven  lamb. 

However,  there  came  a  change.  By  mid-forenoon 
our  gaiety  ran  on  only  by  its  momentum.  The  wedding 
was  to  be  at  eleven.  At  ten  the  Colonel,  aside,  told 
me,  with  a  ferocious  scowl,  that  my  Captain  ought  to 
have  arrived.  At  half-past  he  told  me  again,  but 
Major  Harper,  returning  from  Hazlehurst,  said,  "  Oh, 
any  of  a  hundred  trifles  might  have  delayed  him  a 
short  time;  he  would  be  along."  The  wedding-hour 
passed,  the  wedding-feast  filled  the  air  with  good 
smells.  Horsemen  ambled  a  few  miles  up  the  road  and 
came  back  without  tidings.  Then  a  courier,  one  of 
Ferry's  scouts,  galloped  up  to  the  General's  tent,  and 
presently  the  Major  walked  from  it  to  the  tavern  and 
up  to  Charlotte's  room,  to  say  that  Ferry  was  only 
detained  by  Quinn's  non-arrival.  "  It's  all  right,"  said 
everyone. 

Another  hour  wore  on,  another  followed.  The  Gen 
eral  and  old  Dismukes  played  cards  and  the  latter  be 
gan  to  smell  of  his  drams,  Harry  and  Cecile  walked 
and  talked  apart,  Camille  kept  me  in  leash  with  three 
other  men,  and  about  two  o'clock  came  another  courier 
with  another  bit  of  Ferry's  writing;  Quinn  had  re 
turned.  He  had  had  a  brush  with  jayhawkers  in  the 
night,  had  captured  all  but  their  leader,  and  had  sent 
his  prisoners  in  to  brigade  headquarters  at  Union 
Church,  while  he  returned  to  Ferry's  camp  bringing 
with  him,  mortally  wounded — "  O — oh !  Oh— oh  1 " 

296 


A  Tarrying  Bridegroom 

exclaimed  Charlotte,  gazing  at  the  missive, — "  Sergeant 
Jim  Langley ! " 

"  Does  Ned  say  when  he  will  start  ? "  asked  the 
Colonel,  and  Charlotte,  reading  again,  said  the  ser 
geant,  at  the  time  of  the  writing,  was  not  expected  to 
live  an  hour.  Whereupon  the  word  went  through  town 
that  Ferry  was  on  his  way  to  us. 

"  Smith,"  said  the  Colonel,  just  not  too  full  to  keep 
up  a  majestic  frown,  "  want  to  saddle  my  horse  and 
yours  ?  "  and  very  soon  we  were  off  to  meet  the  tardy 
bridegroom.  The  October  sunshine  was  fiery,  but  the 
road  led  us  through  our  old  camp-ground  for  two  or 
three  shady  miles  before  it  forked  to  the  right  to  cross 
the  Natchez  Trace,  and  to  the  left  on  its  way  to  Union 
Springs,  and  at  the  fork  we  halted.  "  Smith,  I  reckon 
we'd  best  go  back."  I  mentioned  his  bruises  and  the 
torrid  sun-glare  before  us,  but  he  cursed  both  with 
equal  contempt ;  "  No,  but  I  must  go  back ;  I — I've 
left  a — oh,  I  must  go  back  to  wet  my  whistle !  " 

We  had  retraced  our  way  but  a  few  steps,  when, 
looking  behind  me  as  a  scout's  habit  is,  I  saw  a  horse 
man  coming  swiftly  on  the  Union  Church  road.  "  Col 
onel,"  I  said,  "  here  comes  Scott  Gholson." 

Without  pausing  or  turning  an  eye  my  hearer  poured 
out  a  slow  flood  of  curses.  "  If  that  whelp  has  come 
here  of  his  own  accord  he's  come  for  no  good!  Has 
he  seen  us  ?  " 

Gholson  had  not  seen  us;  we  had  been  in  deep 
shade  when  he  came  into  sight,  and  happened  at  that 
moment  to  turn  an  angle  that  took  us  out  of  his  line 
of  view.  In  a  minute  or  so  we  were  again  at  the  small 

297 


The  Cavalier 

bridge  over  the  embowered  creek  which  ran  through 
the  camping-ground.  The  water  was  low  and  clear, 
and  the  Colonel  turned  from  the  bridge  as  if  to  cross 
beneath  it  and  let  his  beast  drink,  yet  motioned  back 
for  me  to  go  upon  it.  As  I  reached  its  middle  he 
came  under  it  in  the  stream  and  halted.  Guessing  his 
wish  I  turned  my  horse  across  the  bridge  and  waited. 
Gholson  was  almost  within  hail  before  he  knew  me. 
He  was  a  heaving  lump  of  dust,  sweat  and  pain. 

"  Has  Ned  Ferry  come  ?  "  was  his  first  call.  I  shook 
my  head.  "  Oh,  thank  God !  "  he  cried  with  a  wild 
gesture  and  sank  low  in  the  saddle;  but  instantly  he 
roused  again :  "  Oh,  don't  stop  me,  Smith ;  if  I  once 
stop  I'm  afraid  I'll  never  get  to  her !  " 

I  stopped  him.  "  Why,  Gholson,  you're  burning  up 
with  fever." 

"  Yes,  I  started  with  a  shaking  chill.  I'm  afraid, 
every  minute,  I'll  go  out  of  my  head.  Oh,  Smith,  Oli 
ver's  alive!  He's  alive,  he's  alive,  and  I've  come  to 
save  his  poor  wife  from  a  fate  worse  than  death ! " 

"  Gholson,  you  are  out  of  your  head." 

*'  Oh,  yes,  yes,  yes !  and  yet  I  know  what  I'm  saying, 
I  know  what  I'm  saying !  " 

"You  do  not!  Gholson,  Oliver's  been  food  for 
worms  these  four  months.  I  know  he  wasn't  dead  at 
Gilmer's;  but  he  died — now,  let  me  tell  you — he — " 

"  Smith,  I  know  the  whole  story  and  you  know  only 
half!" 

"  No,  no !  I  know  all  and  you  know  only  half ;  I 
have  seen  the  absolute — " 

"  Proofs  ?  no !  you  saw  things  taken  from  the  body 

298 


A  Tarrying  Bridegroom 

of  another  man  in  Oliver's  clothes!  Oliver  swapped 
places  with  him  on  the  boat  going  down  to  the  city 
so's  he  could  come  back  to  these  parts  without  being 
hung  by  the  Yankees;  swapped  with  a  sick  soldier, 
one  of  a  pair  that  wanted  to  desert;  swapped  names, 
clothes,  bandages,  letters,  everything.  It  was  that  sol 
dier  that  died  of  the  congestive  chill  and  was  buried 
by  your  mother  with  his  face  in  a  blanket — as,  like 
enough,  mine  will  be  before  another  day  is  done — Oh, 
Lord,  Lord !  my  head  will  burst !  " 

"  Gholson,  you're  mistaken  yet !  That  soldier  came 
to  my  mother — " 

"  No,  he  never !  the  other  one  went  to  her,  in  ca 
hoots  with  Oliver,  and  worked  the  thing  all  through 
so's  to  have  the  news  of  Oliver's  death,  so  called,  come 
back  here  to  the  Yankees  and  us ;  and  to  his  wife,  so's 
she  'would  marry  Ned  Ferry  to  her  everlasting  shame, 
and  people  would  say  they  was  served  right  when  he 
killed  'em  at  last !  O— oh !  Smith,—" 

"  Listen  to  me !  "  I  had  tried  twice  to  interrupt  and 
now  I  yelled ;  "  was  it  Oliver,  and  a  new  gang,  that 
Quinn  fought  last  night,  and  have  you  got  him  at 
Union  Church?" 

"  Quinn  didn't  know  it,  for  Oliver  got  away,  but 
they  got  the  Yankee  deserter,  and  brought  him  in  when 
everybody  was  asleep  but  me,  and  I  cross-examined 
him.  Oh,  my  friend,  God's  arm  is  not  shortened  that 
he  cannot  save!  He  maketh  the  wrath  of  the  wicked 
to  praise  him!  The  man  was  dying  then,  but  thank 
God,  I  choked  the  whole  truth  out  of  him  with  a  halter 
over  a  limb,  and  then  for  three  mortal  hours  I  couldn't 

299 


The  Cavalier 

start  because  the  squad  that  took  him  out  to — Who 
—who  is  that?" 

The  Colonel  moved  from  under  the  bridge,  spurred 
up  the  bank,  and  turned  to  us  with  a  murderous  smile, 
"  Howdy,  Gholson."  The  smile  grew.  "  Had  to  stay 
with  the  hanging-squad  to  keep  his  mouth  shut,  you 
was  going  to  say,  wa'n't  you  ?  But  you  knew  Captain 
Ferry  would  be  delayed  waiting  for  Quinn,  too;  yes. 
Does  any  one  know  this  now  besides  us  three;  nol 
Good,  we're  well  met!  Smith  and  me  are  going  to 
Union  Church,  and  you'd  better  go  with  us;  I've  got 
a  job  that  God  A'mighty  just  built  you  two  saints  and 
me  for;  come,  never  mind  Gallatin,  Ferry's  not  there, 
and  when  he  gets  there  Heaven  ain't  a-going  to  stop 
that  wedding,  and  hell  sha'n't."  Gholson  had  barely 
caught  his  breath  to  demur  when  old  Dismukes,  roaring 
and  snarling  like  a  huge  dog,  whippe'd  out  his  revolver, 
clutched  the  sick  man's  bosom,  and  hanging  over  him 
and  bellowing  blasphemies,  yelled  into  his  very  teeth 
"Come!" 

We  galloped.  A  courier  from  the  brigade-camp  met 
us,  and  the  Colonel  scribbled  a  purely  false  explanation 
of  our  absence,  begging  that  no  delay  be  made  be 
cause  of  it.  As  the  man  left  us,  who  should  come  up 
from  behind  us  but  Harry,  asking  what  was  the  mat 
ter.  "  Matter  enough  for  you  to  come  along,"  said 
the  Arkansan,  and  we  went  two  and  two,  he  and  Ghol 
son,  Harry  and  I.  We  reached  camp  at  sundown,  and 
stopped  to  feed  and  rest  our  horses  and  to  catch  an 
hour's  sleep.  Gholson's  fatigue  was  pitiful,  but  he 
ate  like  a  wolf,  slept,  and  awoke  with  but  little  fever. 

300 


Never  Told  Till  Now 

The  Colonel  kept  him  under  his  eye,  forcing  on  him 
the  honors  of  his  own  board,  bed  and  bottle,  and  at 
nine  we  galloped  again. 

Between  eleven  and  twelve  the  Colonel,  Harry  and 
I  were  in  a  dense  wood,  moving  noiselessly  toward  a 
clearing  brilliantly  lighted  by  the  moon.  I  was  guide. 
A  few  rods  back  in  the  woods  Gholson  was  holding 
our  horses  and  with  cocked  revolver  detaining  a  young 
mulatto  woman  from  whom  the  Colonel  had  extorted 
the  knowledge  which  had  brought  us  to  this  spot.  The 
clearing  was  fenced,  but  was  full  of  autumn  weeds. 
Near  the  two  sides  next  us,  tilted  awry  on  its  high 
basement  pillars,  loomed  an  old  cotton-gin  house,  its 
dark  shadows  falling  toward  us.  A  few  yards  beyond 
towered  and  gleamed  a  white-boled  sycamore,  and  be 
tween  the  two  the  titanic  arms  of  the  horse-power  press 
widened  broadly  downward  out  of  the  still  night  sky. 
The  tree  was  the  one  which  old  Lucius  Oliver  had  once 
pointed  out  to  me  at  dawn. 


LXIII 

SOMETHING    I    HAVE    NEVER    TOLD    TILL    NOW 

AT  the  fence  I  ceased  to  lead,  and  we  crept  near  the 
gin-house  from  three  sides,  warily,  though  all  the 
chances  were  that  wherever  Oliver  lay  he  was  heavy 
with  drink.  The  Colonel  stole  in  alone.  He  was  lost 
to  us  for,  I  should  say,  five  minutes ;  they  seemed 
thirty ;  then  there  pealed  upon  the  stillness  an  uproari 
ous  laugh  mingled  with  oaths  and  curses,  sounds  of  a 

301 


The  Cavalier 

plunge,  a  struggle,  a  groan,  and  old  Dismukes  calling 
"  Come,  boys,  I've  got  him !  Take  it  easy,  take  it  easy, 
I've  got  him  on  the  floor  by  the  hair  of  his  head ;  call 
Gholson!" 

Gholson  brought  the  mulatress.  In  the  feeble  rays 
of  an  old  tin  lantern,  on  some  gunny-sacking  that  lay 
about  the  gin-room  floor,  sat  old  Dismukes  cross- 
legged  and  smiling,  with  arms  folded  and  revolver 
dangling  from  his  right  hand,  at  full  cock.  On  one 
side  crouched  Harry  and  I,  on  the  other  side  Gholson 
and  the  slave  woman.  Facing  him,  half  sat,  half  knelt 
Oliver,  bound  hand  and  foot,  and  gagged  with  his  own 
knotted  handkerchief.  The  lantern  hung  from  a  low 
beam  just  above  his  face;  his  eyes  blazed  across  the 
short  interval  with  the  splendor  of  a  hawk's.  The 
dread  issue  of  the  hour  seemed  all  at  once  to  have  taken 
from  his  outward  aspect  the  baser  signs  of  his  habits 
and  crimes,  and  I  saw  large  extenuation  for  Charlotte's 
great  mistake.  From  the  big  Colonel's  face,  too,  the 
heaviness  of  drink  was  gone,  and  its  smile  grew  almost 
fine  as  he  spoke. 

"  Ten  minutes  for  prayer  is  a  good  while  to  allow 
you,  my  amiable  friend;  we  ain't  heard  for  our  much 
speaking,  are  we,  Brother  Gholson  ?  Still,  we've  given 
you  that,  and  it's  half  gone.  If  you  don't  want  the 
other  half  we  won't  force  it  on  you;  we've  got  that 
wedding  to  go  to,  and  I'm  afraid  we'll  be  late." 

The  bound  man  sat  like  a  statue.  The  slave  girl 
went  upon  her  knees  and  began  to  pray  for  her  mas 
ter, — with  whom  she  had  remained  after  every  other 
servant  on  the  place  had  run  off  to  the  Federals, — 

302 


Never  Told  Till  Now 

supplicating  with  a  piteous  fervor  that  drew  tears  down 
Harry's  cheeks.  "  Humph !  "  said  the  Arkansan,  still 
smiling  straight  into  Oliver's  eyes,  "  she'd  better  be 
thanking  God  for  her  freedom,  for  that's  what  we're 
going  to  give  her  to-night;  we're  going  to  take  her 
and  your  poor  old  crippled  father  to  the  outposts  and 
turn  'em  loose,  and  if  either  of  'em  ever  shows  up 
inside  our  lines  after  to-night,  we'll  hang  'em.  You 
fixed  the  date  of  your  death  last  June,  and  we're  not 
going  to  let  it  be  changed ;  that's  when  you  died.  Ain't 
it,  Gholson?  Whoever  says  it  ain't  fixes  the  date 
of  his  own  funeral,  eh,  boys  ?  I  take  pleasure  in  telling 
you  we're  not  going  to  hang  your  father,  because  I 
believe  in  my  bones  you'd  rather  we'd  hang  him  than 
not.  Mr.  Gholson,  you're  our  most  pious  believer  in 
obedience  to  orders ;  well,  I'm  going  to  give  you  one, 
and  if  you  don't  make  a  botch  of  it  I  sha'n't  have  to 
make  a  botch  of  you ;  understand  ?  " 

Gholson's  lips  moved  inaudibly,  his  jaws  set  hard, 
and  he  blanched;  but  the  Colonel  smiled  once  more: 
"  I've  heard  that  at  one  time  you  said,  or  implied,  that 
Captain  Ferry  had  betrayed  his  office,  because  when  he 
had  a  fair  chance  to  shoot  this  varmint  he  omitted,  for 
private  reasons,  to  do  it.  And  I've  heard  you  say, 
myself,  that  this  isn't  your  own  little  private  war.  So, 
— just  change  seats  with  me." 

They  exchanged.  The  slave  girl  sank  forward  upon 
her  face  moaning  and  sobbing.  Harry  silently  wept. 
"  Now,  Gholson,  you  know  me ;  draw — pistol." 

Gholson  drew ;  I  grew  sick.  "  Ready," — Gholson 
came  to  a  ready  and  so  did  the  Colonel ; 

303 


The  Cavalier 

Gholson  slawly  aimed,  the  Colonel  kept  a  ready,  and 
Oliver,  for  the  first  time  took  his  eyes  from  him  and 
gazed  at  Gholson.  "  Fire !  "  Gholson  fired ;  Oliver  si 
lently  fell  forward;  with  a  stifled  cry  the  girl  sprang 
to  him  and  drew  his  head  into  her  lap,  and  he  softly 
straightened  out  and  was  still.  "  Oh,  sweet  Jesus ! " 
she  cried,  "  Oh,  sweet  Jesus !  " 

The  amused  Colonel  held  the  lantern  close  down. 
"  He's  all  right,  Brother  Gholson,"  was  his  verdict ;  the 
ball  had  gone  to  the  heart.  "  Still,  just  to  clinch  the 
thing,  we'll  calcine  him,  gin-house  and  all." 

Gin-house  and  all,  we  burned  him  up.  On  our 
horses  out  in  the  open  road  to  the  house,  we  sat,  the 
girl  perched  behind  the  Colonel,  and  watched  the  fire 
mount  and  whirl  and  crackle  behind  the  awful  black 
arms  of  the  cotton-press.  The  Arkansan  shook  his 
head :  "  It's  too  fine ;  'tain't  a  dog's  death,  after  all. 
Lord!  why  didn't  I  think  of  it  in  time?  we'd  ought 
to  V  just  dropped  him  alive  into  that  lint-box  and 
turned  the  press  down  onto  him  with  our  horses ! " 

When  the  pile  was  in  one  great  flame  we  rode  to  the 
dwelling,  and  the  girl  was  sent  in  to  bid  old  Lucius 
begone.  The  doors  stood  open,  a  soft  firelight  shone 
from  his  room.  We  saw  her  form  darken  his  chamber 
threshold  and  halt,  and  then  she  wailed :  "  Oh,  Lawd 
God  A'mighty !  Oh,  Lawd  God  A'mighty !  " 

"  Stop  that  noise !  Gholson,  hold  the  horses.  Come. 
Lieutenant,  come  Smith,  maybe  he's  killed  himself, 
but  it  seems  too  good  to  be  true.  Here,  girl,  go  cram 
what  you  can  get  into  a  pillow-case,  and  mount  be 
hind  my  saddle  again;  be  quick,  we're  going  t©  burn 

304 


Never  Told  Till  Now 

this  hornet's  nest  too."  Harry  and  I  had  already  run  to 
the  old  man's  room,  and,  sure  enough,  there  lay  the 
aged  assassin  hideous  in  his  fallen  bulk,  with  his  own 
bullet  in  his  brain. 

Once  more  the  Arkansan  shook  his  head  at  the  leap 
ing  flames.  "  Too  good,  too  good  for  either  of  'em, 
entirely;  we've  let  'em  settle  at  five  cents  on  the  dol 
lar.  Here  girl," — he  reached  back  and  handed  her  a 
wad  of  greenbacks, — "  here's  your  dividend ;  you're  a 
preferred  creditor."  He  had  rifled  the  pockets  of  both 
the  dead  men,  and  this  was  their  contents.  "  Now, 
boys,  we'll  dust,  or  we'll  be  getting  shot  at  by  some 
fool  or  other.  We're  leaving  a  fine  horse  hid  away 
somewhere  hereabouts,  but  we  can't  help  that;  come 
on." 

In  due  time  the  Colonel,  with  the  slave  girl,  and 
Harry  with  her  pillow-case  of  duds,  turned  toward 
Fayette,  and  Gholson  and  I  toward  the  brigade,  at 
Union  Church.  Then,  at  last,  my  old  friend  and  co 
religionist  let  his  wrath  loose.  He  began  with  a  flood 
of  curses,  lifting  high  a  loaded  carbine  which  we  had 
found  with  Oliver  and  which  he  was  ordered  to  turn 
in.  As  he  gave  his  ecstasy  utterance  it  grew;  he 
brandished  the  weapon  like  a  Bedouin,  dug  the  rowels 
into  his  overspent  beast  and  curbed  him  back  to  his 
haunches,  fisted  him  about  the  ears,  gnashed  with  the 
pain  of  his  own  blows,  and  howled,  and  stood  up  in 
the  stirrups  and  cursed  again.  I  had  heard  church- 
members  curse,  but  they  were  new  church-members, 
camp  converts,  and  their  curses  were  an  infant's  coo 
ing,  to  this.  Unwittingly  he  caused  his  horse  to  stum- 


The  Cavaliei 

ble,  and  the  torrent  of  his  passion  gathered  force  like 
rain  after  a  peal  of  thunder;  he  clubbed  the  gun  to 
bring  it  down  upon  the  beautiful  creature's  head,  and 
when  I  caught  it  on  the  rise  he  wrenched  it  from  me 
as  if  I  were  a  girl,  threw  it  fifty  feet  away,  sprang  to 
the  ground  and  caught  it  up,  fired  it  in  the  air,  and 
with  one  blow  against  a  tree  sent  the  stock  flying, 
threw  the  barrel  underfoot,  leapt  upon  it,  tore  his  hair 
and  his  hat,  and  cursed  and  champed  and  howled.  I 
sat  holding  his  horse  and  feeling  my  satisfaction  rise 
like  the  mercury  in  a  warmed  thermometer.  Contrast 
ing  this  mood  with  the  cold  malignancy  and  resolve  of 
his  temper  in  the  soldiers'  room  at  Sessions's,  I  saw, 
to  my  delight,  that  our  secret  was  forever  imprisoned 
in  his  breast,  gagged  and  chained  down  by  the  iron 
of  his  own  inextricable  infamy.  At  dawn  he  awa 
kened  me  that  he  might  persuade  me  to  reject  the  evi 
dences  brought  against  his  character  by  his  doings  and 
endurings  of  the  night,  and  that  he  might  rebuild  the 
old  house  of  words  in  which  habitually  he  found  shel 
ter,  too  abysmally  self-conceited  ever  to  see  his  own 
hypocrisy.  We  breakfasted  with  the  "  attatchays  " ; 
after  which  he  had  barely  secured  my  final  assurance 
that  our  friendship  remained  unmarred,  when  old  Dis- 
mukes  and  Harry  mounted  at  the  Colonel's  tent,  and 
the  old  brute,  as  they  trotted  out  into  the  Gallatin  road, 
beckoned  me  to  join  them. 


306 


By  Twos.    March 

LXIV 

BY  TWOS.      MARCH 

THE  Arkansan  was  happy.  "  Come  up,  Legs,"  he 
bawled  to  me  as  soon  as  we  were  beyond  the  pickets, 
"  come  up  from  behind  there ;  this  ain't  no  dress 
parade." 

"  Are  they  married  ?  "  I  softly  asked  Harry  at  the 
first  opportunity,  but  he  could  not  tell  me.  He  knew 
only  that  Ferry  had  been  expected  to  arrive  about  an 
hour  before  midnight;  if  he  arrived  later  the  wed 
ding  would  be  deferred  until  to-day.  On  our  whole 
ride  we  met  no  one  from  Gallatin  until  near  the  edge 
of  the  town  we  passed  a  smiling  rider  who  called  after 
us,  "  You-all  a-hurryin1  for  nothin' !  " 

We  dropped  to  a  more  dignified  gait  and  moved 
gayly  in  among  our  gathering  friends,  asking  if  we 
were  in  time.  "  No — o !  you're  too  late ! — but  still 
we've  waited  for  you;  couldn't  help  ourselves;  she 
wouldn't  stir  without  you." 

The  happy  hubbub  was  bewildering.  "  Where's  this 
one?  "  "  Where's  that  one?  "  "  See  here,  I'm  look 
ing  for  you !  "  "  Now,  you  and  I  go  together — " 
"  Dick  Smith !  where's  Dick  Sm' — Miss  Harper  wants 
you,  Smith,  up  at  the  bride's  door."  But  Miss  Harper 
only  sent  me  in  to  Charlotte. 

"  Richard,  tell  me,"  the  fair  vision  began  to  say, 
but  there  the  cloud  left  her  brow.  "  No,"  she  added, 
"  you  couldn't  look  so  happy  if  there  were  the  least 

307 


The  Cavalier 

thing  wrong,  could  you  ?  "  Her  fathoming  eyes  filled 
while  her  smile  brightened,  and  meeting  them  squarely 
I  replied  "  There's  a-many  a  thing  wrong,  but  not  one 
for  which  this  wedding  need  wait  another  minute." 

"  God  bless  you,  Richard !  "  she  said ;  "  and  now 
you  may  go  tell  Edgard  I  am  coming." 

Old  Gallatin  is  no  more.  I  would  not  mention  with 
out  reverence  the  perishing  of  a  town  however  small, 
though  no  charm  of  antiquity,  of  art  or  of  nature  were 
lost  in  its  dissolution.  Yet  it  suits  my  fancy  that  old 
Gallatin  has  perished.  Neither  war  nor  famine,  flood 
nor  fever  were  the  death  of  it ;  the  railroad  and  Hazle- 
hurst  sapped  its  life.  Some  years  ago,  on  a  business 
trip  for  our  company — not  cavalry,  insurance, — I  went 
several  miles  out  of  my  way  to  see  the  spot.  Not  a 
timber,  not  a  brick,  of  the  old  county-seat  remained. 
Where  the  court-house  had  stood  on  its  square,  the  early 
summer  sun  drew  tonic  odor  from  a  field  of  corn.  In 
place  of  the  tavern  a  cotton-field  was  ablush  with  blos 
soms.  Shops  and  houses  had  utterly  vanished ;  a  soli 
tary  "  store,"  as  transient  as  a  toadstool,  stood  at  the 
cross-roads  peddling  calico  and  molasses,  shoes  and 
snuff.  But  that  was  the  only  discord,  and  by  turning 
my  back  on  it  I  easily  called  up  the  long  past  scene: 
the  wedding,  the  feast,  the  fiery  punch,  the  General's 
toast  to  the  bridal  pair,  and  the  heavy-eyed  Colonel's 
bumper  to  their  posterity !  It  was  hardly  drunk  when 
a  courier  brought  word  that  the  enemy  were  across  Big 
Black,  and  the  brigade  pressing  north  to  meet  them. 
Charlotte  glided  away  to  her  room  to  be  "  back  in  a 


By  Twos.     March 

moment " ;  into  their  saddles  went  the  General,  the 
Colonel,  the  Major  and  the  aide-de-camp,  and  thun 
dered  off  across  the  bridge  in  the  woods;  Charlotte 
came  back  in  riding-habit,  and  here  was  my  horse  with 
her  saddle  on  him,  and  the  Harpers  and  Mrs.  Wall 
clasping  and  kissing  her;  and  now  her  foot  was  in 
Ferry's  hand  and  up  she  sprang  to  her  seat,  he  vaulted 
to  his,  and  away  they  galloped  side  by  side,  he  for  the 
uttermost  front  of  reconnoissance  and  assault,  she  for 
the  slow  but  successful  uplifting  of  Sergeant  Jim  back 
to  health  and  into  his  place  in  the  train  of  our  hero  and 
hers.  In  the  little  leather-curtained  wagon,  with  the 
old  black  man  and  his  daughter,  and  all  her  mistress's 
small  belongings,  and  with  my  saddle  and  bridle,  I  fol 
lowed  on  to  the  house  where  lay  the  sergeant,  and 
where  my  horse  would  be  waiting  to  bear  me  on  to 
Ferry's  scouts. 

I  saw  the  Harpers  only  twice  again  before  the 
war  was  over.  Nearly  all  winter  our  soldiering  was 
down  in  the  Felicianas,  but  by  February  we  were 
once  more  at  Big  Black  when  Sherman  with  ten 
thousand  of  his  destroyers  swarmed  out  of  Vicks- 
burg  on  his  great  raid  to  Meridian.  Three  or  four 
mounted  brigades  were  all  that  we  could  gather,  and 
when  we  had  fought  our  fiercest  we  had  only  fought 
the  tide  with  a  broom ;  it  went  back  when  it  was  ready, 
a  month  later,  leaving  what  a  wake !  The  Harpers  set 
up  a  pretty  home  in  Jackson,  where  both  Harry  and 
Gholson  were  occasional  visitors,  on  errands  more  or 
less  real  to  department  headquarters  in  that  State  capi 
tal  ;  yet  Harry  and  Cecile  did  not  wed  until  after  the 

309 


The  Cavalier 

surrender.  Gholson's  passion  for  Charlotte  really  did 
half  destroy  him,  while  it  lasted ;  nevertheless,  one  day 
about  a  year  after  her  marriage,  when  I  had  the  joy 
of  visiting  the  Harpers,  I  saw  that  Gholson's  heart  was 
healed  of  that  wound  and  had  opened  in  a  new  place. 
That  is  why  Estelle,  with  that  danger-glow  of  emo 
tion  ever  impending  on  her  beautiful  cheek,  never  mar 
ried.  She  was  of  that  kind  whose  love,  once  placed, 
can  never  remove  itself,  and  she  loved  Gholson.  Both 
Cecile  and  Camille  had  some  gift  to  discern  character, 
and  some  notion  of  their  own  value,  and  therefore  are 
less  to  be  excused  for  not  choosing  better  husbands 
than  they  did ;  but  Estelle  could  never  see  beyond  the 
outer  label  of  man,  woman  or  child,  and  Gholson's  la 
bel  was  his  piety.  She  believed  in  it  as  implicitly,  as 
consumingly,  as  he  believed  in  it  himself;  and  when 
her  whole  kindred  spoke  as  one  and  said  no,  and  she 
sent  him  away,  she  knew  she  was  a  lifelong  widow 
from  that  hour.  Gholson  found  a  wife,  a  rich  widow \ 
ten  years  his  senior,  and  so  first  of  all,  since  we  have 
reached  the  page  for  partings,  good-bye  Gholson. 
"  Whom  the  gods  love  die  young " — you  must  be 
sixty  years  old  now,  for  they  say  you're  still  alive. 
And  good-bye,  old  Dismukes;  the  Colonel  made  a 
fortune  after  the  war,  as  a  penitentiary  lessee,  but  they 
say  he  has — how  shall  we  phrase  it? — gone  to  his  re 
ward  ?  Let  us  hope  not. 

But  what  is  this;  are  we  calling  the  roll  after  we 
have  broken  ranks?  Our  rocket  has  scaled  the  sky, 
poised,  curved,  burst,  spread  out  all  its  stars,  and 
dropped  its  stick.  All  is  done  unless  we  desire  to 

310 


By  Twos.    March 


watch  the  fading  sparks  slowly  sink  and  melt  into  dark 
ness.  The  General,  the  Major,  his  brother,  their  sister, 
my  mother,  Quinn,  Kendall,  Sergeant  Jim,  the  Ses- 
sionses,  the  Walls — do  not  inquire  too  closely ;  some 
have  vanished  already,  and  soon  all  will  be  gone ;  then 
— another  rocket;  it  is  the  only  way,  and  why  is  it 
not  a  good  one?  Harry  and  Cecile — yes,  they  still 
shine,  in  "  dear  old  New  Orleans."  Camille  kept  me 
on  the  tenter-hooks  while  she  "  turned  away  her  eyes  " 
for  years ;  but  one  evening  when  we  were  reading  an 
ancient  book  together  out  dropped  those  same  old 
sweet-pea  blossoms ;  whereupon  I  took  her  hand  and — 
I  have  it  yet.  There,  we  have  counted  the  last  spark — 
stop,  no !  two  lights  beam  out  again ;  Edgard  and  Char 
lotte,  our  neighbors  and  dearest  friends  through  all  our 
life;  they  glow  with  nobility  and  loveliness  yet,  as 
they  did  in  those  young  days  when  his  sword  led  our 
dying  fortunes,  and  she,  in  her  gypsy  wagon,  followed 
them,  binding  the  torn  wound,  and  bathing  the  aching 
bruise  and  fevered  head.  Oh,  Ned  Ferry,  my  long- 
loved  partner,  as  dear  a  leader  still  as  ever  you  were 
in  the  days  of  bloody  death,  life's  choicest  gifts  be 
yours,  and  be  hers  whose  sons  and  daughters  are  yours, 
and  the  eldest  and  tallest  of  whom  is  the  one  you  and 
she  have  named  Richard. 


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